Saturday, January 31, 2015

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's highest appeal court on Tuesday upheld
convictions and three-year prison sentences for three prominent
activists for violating the country's draconian law on protests, their
lawyer said.

The three — Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohammed
Adel — have already spent over a year in jail, following their arrest on
charges of breaking a 2013 law that criminalizes political gatherings
of more than 10 people without government permission and imposes tough
penalties on violators.

The decision by Cairo's Cassation Court
left the three without any other legal options, said Tarek al-Awadi,
their lawyer. The court also ordered the three to be on probation for
three years after serving their sentences.

The decision is likely
to fuel more criticism of the protest law, even among allies of
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, and the police's heavy-handedness in
implementing it.

The criticism was reignited after Saturday's
killing of a female protester who died as police dispersed a small rally
on the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 protests that led to the
ouster of Hosni Mubarak. On Sunday, at least 20 people were killed,
including 3 policemen, in violent protests.

The Committee to
Protect Journalists said Monday that at least 11 cases of journalists
being detained, a reporter beaten by protesters and two photographers
injured by birdshot, were documented by local groups on the anniversary.

Images
of Shaimaa el-Sabbagh, with blood running down her face as she was
lifted off the ground by a colleague amid a security chase, struck a
nerve with Egyptians who have grown accustomed to violent clashes with
police.

The protest she took part in was peaceful and small,
organized by a leftist political party that had been allied with
el-Sissi and the military in the 2013 overthrow of Islamist President
Mohammed Morsi. Her killing also raised calls for abolishing or amending
the protest law, which also gives police the right to use force to
disperse protesters.

Agence France-Presse

More than 500 backers of Egypt's
blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood were arrested as clashes erupted on the
anniversary of its 2011 uprising, a minister said Monday, in the biggest
police sweep for months.

Twenty
people, mostly demonstrators, were killed Sunday when protesters
clashed with security forces after Islamists called for rallies against
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government as Egypt marked the fourth
anniversary of the toppling of ex-strongman Hosni Mubarak.

Supporters
of Mubarak's successor, Islamist Mohamed Morsi, have regularly clashed
with security forces since he was ousted by then army chief Sisi in July
2013.

Rights groups have repeatedly denounced the use of "excessive force" by the authorities to crush opposition rallies.

"We
arrested 516 elements from the Muslim Brotherhood group who were
involved in firing ammunition, planting explosives and bombing some
facilities" on Sunday, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said.

The
arrests were the biggest police sweep targeting Morsi supporters in a
single day since Sisi came to power after a landslide election victory
last May.

Ibrahim said 20
people were killed Sunday in clashes, most of them in Cairo's northern
district of Matareya, adding two policemen were among the dead.

A health ministry official said among the dead was a protester killed in the northern city of Alexandria in similar clashes.

Late
on Monday the interior ministry said it had deployed more police forces
to Cairo's Matareya district where fresh skirmishes were reported.

Sunday's death toll from clashes was the biggest in a single day since Sisi came to office.

Three suspected militants also died when they mistakenly blew themselves up while planting explosives in the Nile Delta region.

-'EXCESSIVE FORCE' -

The
authorities have blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for the violence that
has rocked Egypt since Morsi's ouster, including bombings and shootings
targeting security forces.

However,
more than 1,400 people have been killed in a government crackdown
against Morsi's supporters, while over 15,000 have been imprisoned since
he was toppled.

Dozens have also been sentenced to death in trials which the United Nations says are "unprecedented in recent history".

The
Brotherhood has denied government accusations of involvement in attacks
on security forces, mostly claimed by jihadist groups.

Egypt's
deadliest militant group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, said in a video issued
Monday that it executed a policeman kidnapped in Rafah bordering the
Gaza Strip earlier this month.

The United States, Britain and Human Rights Watch condemned Egypt's deadly use of force against protesters.

"Four
years after Egypt's revolution, police are still killing protesters on a
regular basis," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa
director of HRW.

The New
York-based HRW called for "an independent investigation into the
authorities' excessive use of force" to quell "apparently peaceful
protests."Ibrahim dismissed the criticism.

"This organisation has never been objective in its reports," he said, blaming the Brotherhood for Sunday's violence.

US
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki urged the "security forces to
show restraint and to provide a safe environment in which Egyptians can
peacefully express their views."

The British Foreign Office said it was "deeply concerned by the use of deadly force by the police against demonstrators".

Tensions
had surged on the eve of the January 25 anniversary, when a female
demonstrator was killed in clashes with police during a rare leftwing
protest in Cairo.

Shaima al-Sabbagh died of birdshot wounds when police opened fire to disperse a march, fellow protesters and HRW said.

An 18-year-old female protester was also killed on Friday in clashes in Alexandria.

- MUBARAK SONS WALK FREE -

Sisi has been regularly accused by activists and rights groups of installing a regime that is more repressive than Mubarak's.

His
supporters deny the allegations, pointing to his popularity among a
large section of Egypt's population weary of four years of turmoil and
economic crisis.

Ibrahim
also said that Mubarak's sons Alaa and Gamal -- symbols of corruption
during their father's rule -- had been released from jail pending a
retrial in a graft case, four years after their arrest.

When asked by a reporter when they were actually released, Ibrahim said: "How does it concern you when they were released?"

Their
release so close to the anniversary of the 2011 revolt presents a
dilemma for Sisi, who is accused by opponents of reviving Mubarak-era
practices.

Prosecutors Should Investigate Excessive Use of Force

January 26, 2015

(New York) – The death of at least 20 people in Egypt
during clashes with security forces surrounding the commemoration of
the 2011 uprising underscores the need for an independent investigation
into the authorities’ excessive use of force.A woman and 17-year-old
girl were killed ahead of the January 25 anniversary while participating
in apparently peaceful protests, and at least 18 died on the
anniversary.

Sondos Reda Abu Bakr, 17, and Shaimaa al-Sabbagh, 32, were killed on
January 23 and 24 when security forces broke up protests in which
they were participating, according to eyewitnesses, media reports,
videos, and photographs reviewed by Human Rights Watch.

In al-Sabbagh’s
case, clear evidence – including videos of the gathering before, during
and after its dispersal – shows that police responded to a small,
peaceful protest with excessive force, leading to al-Sabbagh’s death.

“Four years after Egypt’s revolution, police are still killing protesters on a regular basis,” said Sarah Leah Whitson,
Middle East and North Africa director. “While President Sisi was at
Davos burnishing his international image, his security forces were
routinely using violence against Egyptians participating in peaceful
demonstrations.”

Since former Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power
following a July 2013 military coup that removed former President
Mohamed Morsy, Egyptian security forces have carried out widespread
killings of more than 1,000 Egyptian protesters.

Most of those killed
were supporters of Morsy or opponents of the coup who died in Rabaa and Nahda squares
in the capital on August 14, 2013 – the worst mass killings in Egypt’s
modern history. In November 2013, the government put in place an
anti-protest law that forbids impromptu demonstrations and gives the
Interior Ministry wide authority to forcefully disperse unauthorized
gatherings.

On January 25, 2014, the third anniversary of the uprising,
at least 64 people died across Egypt in clashes between protesters and security forces.

On January 23, in the buildup to the fourth anniversary of the uprising,
police violently dispersed an anti-coup march in Alexandria, according
to the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood’s political wing.

Abu
Bakr, a student, was participating in the march when she was shot and
killed, the party said in a Facebook post. A Health Ministry official in Alexandria told the Reuters news agency that Abu Bakr was one of two people taken to hospital for gunshot wounds.

On January 24, police similarly dispersed a peaceful protest led by the
Socialist Popular Alliance Party in Cairo’s downtown Talaat Harb Square,
firing tear gas and birdshot, arresting at least six people and leaving
al-Sabbagh dead, according to eyewitnesses and other evidence. The
party had organized the march to commemorate the January 25 revolution
and remember its “martyrs.”

Human Rights Watch reviewed numerous publicly available media documenting the protest, including four videos – one of which appears to show al-Sabbagh seconds after being shot – and 21 still photographs, 15 of which show the protest as it is being dispersed.

Though none of the videos or photographs show when and how she was shot,
they do show that at least some of the security forces present in the
square were carrying shotguns and automatic rifles. Two photos, which
seem to have been taken at or around the moment al-Sabbagh fell, show
armed police chasing her and others.

Hisham Abd al-Hamid, spokesman for the Justice Ministry’s Forensic Medical Authority, told the television channel Al-Hayat in a live interview
that al-Sabbagh had been shot in the back and neck by birdshot from
around 8 meters.

Abd al-Hamid said the type of “light” birdshot that
killed al-Sabbagh could have been used by police or civilians. He also
said that Qasr al-Nil district prosecutors had asked him not to publish
the autopsy report because the prosecutor general was issuing a
publication ban on the case, according to the Aswat Masriya news service.

Osama Hammam, a photojournalist documenting the protest, wrote on Facebook
that the marchers, about 30 people, carried a wreath and stood on a
sidewalk after reaching the square, chanting, “bread, freedom, social
justice” – a popular protest slogan.

Video posted to YouTube
by the quasi-official Middle East News Agency shows the protesters,
also holding a large banner, marching through the street and standing
and chanting peacefully near the square.

Another video,
which also appears to show al-Sabbagh moments after being shot, shows
the crowd chanting peacefully. Police stationed in the square – where
they had dispersed protesters who fired fireworks at them on January 22 – suddenly fired tear gas at the group, Hammam wrote, and the protesters began to walk away.

“Suddenly I received birdshot and began to run, not understanding
anything that was happening,” Hammam wrote. “I took some pictures as I
ran and when I felt the firing stop I looked and saw Shaima al-Sabbagh
fall to the ground.”

Graphic videos posted to YouTube show a colleague of al-Sabbagh and another man
carrying her away from the square and seeking help. Al-Sabbagh appears
to be unconscious, and blood can be seen flowing from her mouth and
nose.

A forensic medical report documenting al-Sabbagh’s death, a photo of which former member of parliament Ziad al-Alimi posted on Twitter,
states that al-Sabbagh died after being shot in the back, causing
lacerations to her lungs and heart and massive bleeding in her chest.

Security officials denied that police had shot al-Sabbagh. Assistant Interior Minister Abd al-Fattah Othman told
the Agence France-Presse news agency that security forces had only used
tear gas to disperse the protest. “It was a small protest that did not
require the use of such weapons, only two tear gas canisters were
fired,” he said.

Another Interior Ministry statement claimed that the protesters had used fireworks against security forces, Ahram Online reported.

Maj. Gen. Hany Abd al-Latif, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said
security forces were working to speedily bring al-Sabbagh’s killers to
justice and told a privately owned television channel that a group of
protesters caught on tape carrying rifles had fired the gunshots, according to Aswat Masriya. Abd al-Latif “warned” that Muslim Brotherhood members were using such gatherings to “drive a wedge between the police and the people,” the newspaper Al-Watan reported.

None of the publicly available media reviewed by Human Rights Watch showed any protester with a weapon or fireworks.

On January 25, Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat announced
the opening of an “immediate and extensive” investigation into
al-Sabbagh’s death and ordered members of the security forces who
participated in the incident to be questioned.

Barakat said he had also
ordered the unit’s logbooks, which detail what kinds of weapons and
ammunition they used, to be preserved, and that a team of criminal
forensic experts had viewed the scene of al-Sabbagh’s death and her
autopsy report.

Prosecutors seized footage from three security cameras
in the area and questioned five other eyewitnesses as well, according to a report in Al-Youm Al-Sabaa newspaper. They released all six of those arrested during the dispersal.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said
whoever was responsible for al-Sabbagh’s death would be punished and
that “the state after [the] January 25 [, 2011 uprising] respects the
law and applies it to everyone.”

International human rights treaties ratified by Egypt oblige the
government to safeguard the right of peaceful assembly and to restrict
it only when required by law and when necessary to achieve a greater
public good. When dispersing a demonstration or responding to acts of
violence, security forces should abide by the United Nations Basic
Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officers.

Governments and law enforcement agencies must ensure that there is an
effective review process and independent administrative or prosecutorial
authorities to exercise jurisdiction in such cases. Those affected by
the use force should have access to a judicial process.

Such provisions apply to all demonstrations, and Egyptian prosecutors
should ensure that the other deaths that occurred before and during the
January 25 anniversary are investigated fairly and impartially.

Egypt’s successive prosecutors general have failed to hold government
and law enforcement officials accountable for mass, unlawful killings
since the 2011 revolution. Only three low-level officers have served
prison sentences for killings in 2011.

No police officer or security
official has been prosecuted for the mass killings of July and August
2013. A judge convicted four police officers for the August 18, 2013
fatal tear-gassing of 37 detainees at Abu Zaabal Prison, but an appeals
court has ordered them retried. The official June 30 Fact-Finding
Committee, established to investigate the violence surrounding Morsy’s
removal, did not recommend any prosecutions.

Human Rights Watch has called for
the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish a commission of
inquiry to investigate widespread killings of protesters since July
2013.

Police
forces stood alongside pro-ministry interior protesters who were also
standing in Talaat Harb Square, according to a Daily News Egypt reporter
who was present at the scene.

The commemoration was initially
held to be a “women’s stand in the site of Shaimaa Al-Sabbagh’s
killing,” but men had also joined which lasted approximately 45 minutes.

The
initiative for the stand began through a small group of women, who did
not belong to any political movements or parties, the event page for the
stand said.

Police forces shot Al-Sabbagh as she stood in a small
“protest of flowers” in Talaat Harb square commemorating the 25 January
Revolution on 24 January, while police forces shot Abu-Bakr as she
marched in a protest in Alexandria the day before.

21 January 2015

Women and girls in Egypt face violence on a disturbing scale both at
home and in public, including sexual mob attacks as well as torture in
state custody, according to a new briefing by Amnesty International.

“The
reality is that women and girls in Egypt face the ever-present, lurking
spectre of physical and sexual violence in all facets of life. At home
many are subjected to vicious beatings, aggression and abuse from
spouses and relatives. In public they face incessant sexual harassment
and the risk of mob attacks, when not falling prey to state officials’
violence,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle
East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

The
Egyptian authorities have announced some token initiatives in recent
months, including the introduction of a law criminalizing sexual
harassment, however President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s public commitments
to tackle the issue have not yet translated into a cohesive and
sustained strategy.

The authorities are still refusing to acknowledge
the scale of the problem and dodging key reforms needed to effectively
start tackling violence and engrained discriminatory attitudes towards
women.

“For years, successive Egyptian governments have either
trumpeted women’s rights as a PR-exercise or else used violence against
women to score cheap political points against their opponents. The
authorities have blamed their opponents for endemic sexual violence and
promised reforms, but never delivered,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

“Violence
and discrimination affects all women, across Egypt’s political divide.
Token gestures and unfulfilled promises will not suffice. The Egyptian
authorities must seize the opportunity of upcoming parliamentary
elections in March to place this issue at the heart of the political
agenda. There must be no ‘ifs’, no ‘buts’ about ending abuses and
ensuring women can take part in public life.”

More than 99 per
cent of women and girls in Egypt interviewed for a survey published by
UN Women in 2013 reported that they had experienced some form of sexual
harassment.

There have been a handful of convictions since a new law
making sexual harassment a crime punishable by a minimum of one year in
prison was introduced last year. However, the vast majority of women are
still waiting for justice. Even when they seek help many have found
themselves ignored or treated with contempt by police and the justice
system.

Amnesty International is calling for the authorities to
deliver a long-promised, long-delayed strategy on addressing violence
against women.

“The authorities have made big promises, but
actually delivered very little of the root and branch reform that’s
sorely needed,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

“Women are a
fundamental part of the solution to the problems that Egypt faces. It’s
now time for the authorities to come up with a plan to end the long
years of violence and discrimination.”

SEXUAL MOB ATTACKS

Sexual
assaults in public, particularly in the context of demonstrations
around Cairo’s Tahrir Square, have soared in recent years. Sexual
assaults and rapes have been carried out repeatedly in which women have
been groped, stripped naked and dragged through the streets or beaten
with sticks, knives and belts by violent mobs. The authorities have not
shown due diligence to prevent the attacks, or to protect women from
violence.

Egyptian legislation criminalizing rape and other sexual
assault continues to fall short of international human rights
standards. While courts have jailed a small number of men in connection
with the attacks in Tahrir Square, many survivors are still waiting for
justice.

WOMEN IN STATE CUSTODY

The
briefing also documents the deplorable treatment of female prisoners
while in state custody or upon arrest. Several women and girls said they
were tortured or ill-treated by security forces on arrest, including
being subjected to sexual violence.

In prison, female detainees
are subjected to torture and ill-treatment with impunity. One prisoner
was forced to lie in front of other prisoners before being whipped on
her feet. Even pregnant women were found to have been treated in a
degrading or inhuman manner, including being handcuffed during labour.

“While
a lot of the attention is on the situation of prominent male detainees,
true horror stories have emerged from Egypt’s prisons about the inhuman
and cruel treatment female prisoners have endured. All women in police
custody or in prison must be protected from violence, torture and
ill-treatment, including rape, and corporal punishment,” said Hassiba
Hadj Sahraoui.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATORY DIVORCE LAWS

Nearly
half of all women surveyed for the Ministry of Health said that they
had experienced some form of domestic violence, in the last official
figures on the issue. Survivors interviewed by Amnesty International
described brutal physical and psychological abuse, saying that their
spouses had beaten, whipped and burned them and in some cases locked
them up inside the house against their will. They also spoke about how
the legal system is failing them.

Many problems stem from
prejudiced attitudes and are exacerbated by the discriminatory Egyptian
personal status law and other provisions which put up unsurmountable
obstacles for women to prove that their spouses have harmed them.

Support
for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence is quasi-inexistent.
Women who choose to report it are confronted with several obstacles,
including a lack of interest by the security forces or prosecution, as
well as inadequate criminal laws, with domestic violence and marital
rape not explicitly criminalized. This leads many women subjected to
domestic violence to suffer in silence.

A deeply discriminatory
divorce system also often leaves women trapped in abusive relationships.
While men may unilaterally divorce their wives without providing any
justification, women must either forfeit their financial rights by
accepting a “no-fault” khol’ divorce, or be prepared to fight a long and
costly court battle to prove that their husband “harmed” them.

“Recent
measures to protect women taken have been largely symbolic. The
authorities must prove that these are more than cosmetic changes by
making sustained efforts to implement changes and challenge deeply
entrenched attitudes prevalent in Egyptian society,” said Hassiba Hadj
Sahraoui.

____

At a glance - Violence against women in numbers

Sexual harassment

99%: Women and girls interviewed for UN Women survey in 2013 who reported some form of sexual harassment

Domestic violence

47.4%:
Married, divorced, separated or widowed women who reported some form of
physical domestic violence in the last official survey on the issue

39%
of women interviewed in the last official survey on domestic violence
who agreed that a husband is justified in beating his wife in certain
circumstances

Female genital mutilation (FGM)

91%: Women (ages 15-49) subjected to FGM in the last official survey
1: Known prosecutions for female genital mutilation since the 2011 uprising

Public life

30-42: Approximate number of women judges, many directly appointed by Hosni Mubarak

2%: Women holding seats in the last People’s Assembly (lower house of parliament)

10%: Women appointed to the 50-member committee that drafted Egypt’s 2014 constitution

The two sons of Egypt's overthrown leader Hosni Mubarak have been
freed from prison pending a fraud retrial, according to Egypt’s state
media.

Alaa and Gamal Mubarak left jail early on Friday after a court
ordered their release a day ago because they had served the maximum
pretrial detention, the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported on its
website

Hosni Mubarak, who was removed after Egypt's 2011 uprising, was
convicted by a lower court on corruption charges with his two sons last
year, with Alaa and Gamal receiving four-year sentences.
Their charges included embezzling at least $16m earmarked for the maintenance of presidential palaces.

The retrial of the former leader and his two sons was ordered this
month and their lawyer Farid al-Deeb said at the time that the elder
Mubarak, who is in a military hospital, would also be a free man.

However, state media reported there had been no orders yet for his
release and there have been no signs of the 86-year-old leaving the
hospital
.STOCK MARKET MANIPULATION

Ahram reported that Alaa, 54, and Gamal, 51, were transported from
jail to a police station in northern Cairo before being freed. They are
both facing a separate trial for stock market manipulation.

In the last decade of Mubarak's 30-year rule, Gamal in particular was
seen as the likely successor of his father and headed the powerful
policies committee of the now dissolved National Democratic Party.

The release of the Mubaraks presents a dilemma for President Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi, a former army chief whom opponents accuse of reviving
Mubarak-era practices.

His prime minister, Ibrahim Mahlab, was a senior member of the National Democratic Party.
Sisi took power after overthrowing Egypt's first post-revolution
leader – the Muslim Brotherhood-backed president Mohamed Morsi – in 2013
and won an election with massive support last year.

However, he has faced accusations of being even more authoritarian
than Mubarak, unleashing a crackdown on Morsi supporters that has killed
at least 1,400 people.

Holding Police Accountable Key to Saving Lives

January 21, 2015

(New York) – Scores of Egyptians died in government custody in 2014,
many of them packed into police stations in life-threatening conditions.
Yet the authorities have taken no serious steps either to improve
detention conditions or to independently investigate detainees’ deaths.

Some detainees appear to have died after being tortured or physically
abused, Human Rights Watch found. But many appear to have died because
they were held in severely overcrowded cells or did not receive adequate
medical care for serious ailments.

“Egypt’s prisons and police stations are bursting at the seams with opposition supporters rounded up by the authorities,” said Sarah Leah Whitson,
Middle East and North Africa director. “People are being held in
grossly overcrowded and inhumane conditions, and the mounting death toll
is the wholly predictable consequence.”

Human Rights Watch independently documented nine deaths in custody since
mid-2013 based on evidence from the victims’ relatives and lawyers, as
well as medical documents. In one case, the detainee appeared to have
been beaten and then died in a severely overcrowded police cell.

In the
other cases, detainees who had heart disease, cancer, or other ailments
were either denied necessary medical treatment or release on medical
grounds, and in some cases were held in overcrowded conditions that
exacerbated their health problems.

A broad arrest campaign targeting the Muslim Brotherhood, which the
government has labeled a terrorist organization, and others who oppose
the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has strained Egypt’s
prisons. The influx of tens of thousands of people has led authorities
to house many suspects in temporary detention sites.

According to an investigation
published in December by Al Watan newspaper that drew on statistics of
the Justice Ministry’s Forensic Medical Authority (FMA), at least 90
detainees held in police facilities in just the governorates of Cairo
and Giza died in custody in the first ten and a half months of 2014.

A report by the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of
Violence, an Egyptian NGO that examined the first 100 days of al-Sisi’s
administration, found that at least 35 people had died in custody – most
in police stations – between early June and early September. In the 15
cases for which the center identified a cause of death, 13 involved
overcrowding or failure to provide medical care, and two involved
physical abuse.

The government has not disclosed the number of deaths in custody
countrywide, but those recorded by the FMA in Cairo and Giza were a
nearly 40 percent increase over the 65 deaths recorded by the same
authority in 2013, Al Watan reported. The newspaper quoted FMA spokesman
Hisham Abd al-Hamid as saying that overcrowding from the wave of new
detainees was the primary reason for the rise in deaths. News
organizations have regularly reported deaths in detention facilities in
other governorates, suggesting that the total number nationally could be
significantly higher.

Egyptian authorities are obliged under international law to provide
detainees with the same health care available to people who are at
liberty and, under international standards, pretrial detention should
only be used as a last resort.

Article 55 of Egypt’s constitution, passed in 2014, forbids torturing or
physically harming detainees, and requires authorities to treat all
detainees “in a manner that maintains their dignity” and hold them in
facilities that are “adequate on human and health levels.” It states
that violating those provisions is a crime. Article 56 states that
prisons and places of detention should be subject to judicial
supervision and that “actions inconsistent with human dignity or that
endanger human health shall be prohibited.”

Despite the rising number of deaths and widespread reports of
mistreatment, lack of medical care, and severe overcrowding, prosecutors
have filed only one case
against police linked to detainees’ deaths since mid-2013.

This stemmed
from an August 18, 2013 incident in which 37 detainees died after
police fired a tear gas canister into a prison van in which they were
confined at Abu Zaabal Prison. A judge convicted four officers but, in
July, an appeals court ordered them retried. The next hearing will be
held on January 22.

In a message to Human Rights Watch smuggled out of Tora Prison in March
2014, one prisoner said teams of prosecutors regularly visited prisons
but refused to listen to prisoners’ complaints. “All they did was enter
each cell, take a quick glance, count beds, and note names in each
cell,” this prisoner said.

The authorities should investigate deaths in custody and prosecute
police officers and other officials suspected of negligence or abuse,
Human Rights Watch said. Egypt’s prosecutor general should release all
detainees held solely for exercising their constitutionally protected
rights to peaceful protest or political expression.

The prosecutor
should create a process to review pretrial detention practices, with a
presumption against pretrial detention in all cases, and ensure the
immediate release of all those who need medical care unavailable in
detention.

“The Egyptian authorities have appeared shockingly complacent in the
face of so many detainee deaths,” Whitson said. “They need to ensure
that all such deaths, as well as abuse allegations, are independently
investigated, and rapidly put in place and enforce effective safeguards
to protect everyone in state custody.”

DEATHS IN DETENTION

Though Egyptian authorities do not publish prison population statistics,
it is likely that the number of prisoners has risen significantly since
the military overthrew Mohamed Morsy, Egypt’s first freely elected
president, in July 2013 and began a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
The authorities have detained at least 41,000 people, according to a
count based on media reports by the Egyptian Center for Economic and
Social Rights, an independent group. The Brotherhood estimates that
29,000 members or suspected supporters of its movement have been
arrested.

In December, an Interior Ministry official announced
that in 2014, authorities had arrested 10,000 people accused of
rioting, attacking police stations, belonging to terrorist groups or
sabotaging rail lines, and suggested that all were tied to the
Brotherhood. In July, the Interior Ministry told a presidential
fact-finding commission investigating the events surrounding Morsy’s
removal that more than 7,000 people arrested during those events
remained in pretrial detention.

Al-Watan reported that Hisham Abd al-Hamid, the spokesman for the
Forensic Medical Authority, said a team from his agency had surveyed
Cairo and Giza police stations and found that overcrowding was the main
cause of the increase in deaths. Abd al-Hamid said that prisons lacked
capacity to hold an influx of short-term prisoners and so the
authorities had to hold the prisoners in cramped police stations and
other facilities where, on average, each was allocated only half a
square meter of space.

Abd al-Hamid was quoted as saying that rising summer temperatures and
the spread of disease in the winter led to a “natural” increase in
detainees’ deaths, and that they resulted from “medical conditions” and
did not give rise to “criminal suspicion.” Al Watan said an anonymous
source within the Cairo Security Directorate had told the newspaper that
authorities had installed air conditioners to alleviate conditions in
some Cairo and Giza police facilities.

Abd al-Hamid, reached by telephone in December, declined to respond to
requests from Human Rights Watch for information about detainees’ deaths
in custody and abuse of detainees. The office of Prosecutor General
Hisham Barakat did not respond to a July 8 letter from Human Rights
Watch requesting information about any existing investigations into
deaths in custody or the abuse of detainees over the past year. On July
1, an Interior Ministry spokesperson, General Abd al-Fattah Othman, said
on a TV talk show that accounts of police rape and other torture of
prisoners circulating on social media had “no basis in truth” and
described Egyptian prisons as “like hotels.”

Compensation for detainees who have been abused or mistreated is seldom
reported. On January 14, in a rare ruling, an Alexandria administrative
court ordered the Interior Ministry to pay a former prisoner 75,000
Egyptian pounds (US$10,341) for lost wages as a result of having his arm
amputated after it became infected from receiving an injection from a
contaminated syringe. In past years, the Arab Organization for Penal
Reform has won similar rulings, but the Interior Ministry has, in some of those cases, failed to pay, according to Al-Ahram newspaper.

RIGHT TO HEALTH

Despite the Abu Zaabal incident and some accounts of death in custody
that involved torture or physical abuse, a large number of the deaths
reviewed by Human Rights Watch in media and reports from nongovernmental
groups – in addition to the majority of the nine cases independently
verified – appear to be the result of inadequate medical care,
exacerbated by overcrowded conditions.

The United Nations Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners,
adopted by the General Assembly in 1990, provide that prisoners “shall
have access to the health services available in the country without
discrimination on the grounds of their legal situation.”

The universal
right to “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health,”
as recognized and described in various international treaties, including
the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both ratified by
Egypt, also applies to prisoners.

Furthermore, under international standards, pretrial detention should
only be used when it is absolutely necessary to ensure the integrity of
the criminal proceedings and should take into consideration the
likelihood that the detainee will flee. A suspect’s health, and the
ability of the prison system to provide adequate care, should be a basic
consideration for pretrial detention.

Egypt’s Prisons Act of 1956 and Interior Ministry Decree 79 of 1961
mandate adequate care by prison doctors and a bed for each inmate,
including pre-trial detainees, to avoid overcrowding. But in the nine
cases verified by Human Rights Watch, the authorities routinely ignored
and violated these prescriptions.

Prison authorities also routinely
ignored the requirement to notify relatives immediately if a prisoner
dies, and they flouted the requirement that they inform prosecutors
whenever a prisoner dies “suddenly” or as a result of an accident or
criminal act.

A 2014 report
on health care in prisons and detention facilities by the Egyptian
Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) found that conditions generally
did not meet the minimum requirements of the right to health guaranteed
by international law – although the quality of care varied by location –
and that speedy emergency services were “typically very limited.”

Former detainees EIPR interviewed said that they rarely, if ever,
received medical attention from the overburdened and inexperienced
general practitioners who serve as prison doctors. The detainees said
they treated themselves with medicine brought by family members or
recommended by fellow inmates. Wardens also often interfered with prison
doctors’ advice and recommendations when they were available, the
prisoners said.

Overcrowding, combined with poor ventilation, left cells and prison
wards cold in the winter and unbearably hot in summer, prisoners told
the EIPR.

In September, the Interior Ministry amended its 1961 decree, but the
amendments fell short of Egyptian and international standards, the EIPR said.
They did not require the number of doctors in each prison to be
proportionate to the number of inmates or specify the maximum number of
prisoners who can be held in each cell.

They also did not remedy other
flaws the EIPR has identified in prison regulations, such as the fact
that prison wardens and other administrators hold approval power over
doctors’ recommendations for treatment or release.

DEATHS IN CUSTODYAhmed Ibrahim: Signs of a Beating
Ahmed Ibrahim, 23, died early in the morning of June 15, 2014, at a
police station in Cairo’s Matariya district. Ibrahim had been learning
how to install heating and air conditioning systems before he was given a
three-year prison sentence for theft in 2012. Prison authorities had
transferred him to the Matariya police station on June 14 to finalize
his early release. His father, Mohamed Ibrahim, told Human Rights Watch
that he last saw Ahmed alive when he took some food to the police
station for him that evening. His son, he said, was held in an
uncomfortably hot cell of about 4 by 4 meters that was so packed that
prisoners were forced to remain standing.

Mohamed Ibrahim told Human Rights Watch that he complained to the police
captain in charge of the station that the conditions were inhumane but
that the officer punched him and told him to find a doctor if he thought
so. Ibrahim spoke briefly to his son, who assured him that he would
survive until his expected release. At around 1 a.m., however, Ibrahim
received a mobile phone call from Ahmed, who said, “Dad, I’m dying,” the
father told Human Rights Watch.

Ibrahim called an ambulance, he said, but when he went to the station
the next morning, the police told him that Ahmed had died while being
taken by ambulance to a hospital only a short distance from the station.
At the morgue, Ibrahim saw blood on his son’s lips and bruising on his
face and head – injuries noted in a forensic medical report that also
found that Ibrahim’s lungs were swollen and had hemorrhaged.

Ibrahim told Human Rights Watch that he suspects police beat his son. He
said he had filed a complaint with the local prosecutor, who has not
filed charges. According to the December investigation by Al-Watan
newspaper, eight detainees died at the Matariya Police Station in 2014,
the most of any location in Cairo or Giza.

Dr. Tarek Mahmoud al-Ghandour: Refusal to Provide Life-Saving Care
Dr. Tarek Mahmoud al-Ghandour, a dermatology professor at Cairo’s Ain
Shams University and local leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, died on the
morning of November 12 in the intensive care unit of the National Liver
Institute at Monofiyya University, where he had been moved only hours
before.

His death from liver disease occurred following nearly a year of
detention during which prison authorities denied him access to necessary
medical care, according to al-Ghandour’s family and friends.

Police arrested al-Ghandour on December 18, 2013, at his home in Cairo’s
Nasr City neighborhood. Prosecutors charged him with several offenses
related to his membership in the Muslim Brotherhood and, in April, a
judge convicted him of participating in an illegal protest and sentenced
him to five years in prison, despite evidence that he had been at the
headquarters of the national Doctors Syndicate throughout the day of the
protest in question, his wife told Human Rights Watch.

Though al-Ghandour suffered from Hepatitis C, liver cirrhosis, and other
problems and needed a liver transplant from a donor that his family had
identified, the authorities kept him detained pending his appeal of his
five-year sentence and did not transfer him to a hospital where he
could receive the transplant.

According to the EIPR and witnesses
interviewed by Human Rights Watch, Egyptian prison hospitals are not
equipped for surgery, and authorities often put pressure on regular
hospitals to return admitted prisoners as quickly as possible, sometimes
preventing follow-up treatment or recovery time.

Al-Ghandour’s family informed the prosecutor about his medical condition
and requested his release for the liver transplant, and his wife wrote
similar appeals to the presidency and the quasi-governmental National
Council for Human Rights (NCHR).

On April 28, the office of the East Cairo General Prosecutor wrote to
prison authorities requesting that al-Ghandour undergo medical
examinations to see if he needed to have surgery and that further steps
be taken “in accordance with the law,” according to a letter provided by
al-Ghandour’s family.

On May 4, a prison doctor sent a medical report
to prison authorities recommending that al-Ghandour be transferred to
Ain Shams University Specialized Hospital to receive a liver transplant
and warning that his health would deteriorate if he was not. The report
was smuggled to al-Ghandour’s family, who provided it to Human Rights
Watch.

Eventually, prison administrators said they would investigate,
al-Ghandour’s family said, but by then they had moved al-Ghandour first
to one prison, then another. In late October, authorities moved him to
Shibin al-Kom Prison in the governorate of Monofiya because of its
proximity to the National Liver Institute.

The prison authorities
allowed him to have an operation in the Liver Institute necessitated by
his cirrhosis but insisted that he be immediately returned to prison
after surgery without allowing time for recovery. Al-Ghandour’s cousin,
also a dermatologist, told Human Rights Watch that he should have stayed
longer.

“I know that all hospitals in general don’t admit political prisoners
easily. They receive instructions not to admit them,” he told Human
Rights Watch. “The doctor at that time said it’s difficult for them to
admit political prisoners because it means a lot of problems for them
and the hospital.”

On November 9, nearly a year after his arrest, a prison medical
committee reviewed al-Ghandour’s case and asked for an ultrasound of his
cirrhosis, his wife said. Al-Ghandour received the ultrasound on
November 10. Early the next morning, he began to vomit blood.

Prison
authorities transferred him to the Monofiyya University Hospital, where
he was placed under police guard and for roughly three hours received
little treatment aside from a blood infusion, family members who saw him
there told Human Rights Watch. Al-Ghandour’s brother and cousin, who
arrived at the hospital from Cairo after the family received a call from
a doctor, said they found him conscious and that he told them, “I threw
up a bucket of blood.”

Police refused to transport al-Ghandour to the Liver Institute, so his
brother and cousin helped him make the roughly 10-minute walk. A manager
agreed to admit him, and doctors began giving him an endoscopy, but he
continued to bleed heavily, suffered cardiac arrest, and fell into a
coma. Doctors transferred him to the intensive care unit, where he died
the next morning.

Two days later, Hafez Abu Saada, a member of the NCHR, called on the
interior minister and prosecutor general to investigate al-Ghandour’s
death. Neither has announced an investigation.

Mahmoud Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi: Repeated Heart Attacks
Mahmoud Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, 51, a government employee, died in
custody at Suez General Hospital on November 3 after being held for
months in an overcrowded prison cell and suffering apparent heart
attacks.

National Security officers arrested al-Mahdi, a supporter of the ousted
president, on January 19, 2014, at his office in Suez. Prosecutors
accused him of carrying firearms, inciting violence, and belonging to a
banned group – the Muslim Brotherhood.

They ordered him detained for 15
days pending investigation and repeatedly renewed the order until
August, when a judge acquitted him. The prosecutor appealed, and the
judge ordered al-Mahdi released on a 10,000-pound (US$1,400) bail.
However, National Security officers made new allegations that led
prosecutors to file new charges against him and keep him in pretrial
detention.

Authorities held al-Mahdi in Ataka Prison in Suez, in a cell with nearly
50 other inmates that was so small they had to sleep in shifts,
al-Mahdi’s daughter told Human Rights Watch. Al-Mahdi began suffering
chest pains and was transferred to Suez General Hospital three times,
his daughter said. The family arranged for a Health Ministry inspector
to visit al-Mahdi in prison, and the inspector recommended his immediate
transfer to a hospital, though the hospital declined to admit him. Many
doctors seem reluctant to admit those viewed as political prisoners
because they do not want to be legally responsible, al-Mahdi’s daughter
said.

“Actually, in the last period my father sometimes refused to go to
hospital when he felt sick because he thought it would be a lot of
useless effort,” she said.

One afternoon in late October, a few days before he died, al-Mahdi’s
pain became so severe that fellow prisoners began banging on the cell
bars to attract help, his daughter said, but it took 10 hours before
prison officials moved al-Mahdi to Suez General Hospital, where doctors
diagnosed high blood pressure and elevated blood sugar and said he was
probably having a heart attack.

They admitted al-Mahdi to the intensive
care unit for fewer than 12 hours and then transferred him to the
hospital’s prison ward, a facility that seemed to lack basic equipment,
including an oxygen mask, al-Mahdi’s daughter said.

On November 2, al-Mahdi suffered another bout of chest pain, and doctors
took him to the intensive care unit for an oxygen mask and
electrocardiogram. Though al-Mahdi said he was sick and could not
breathe, nurses and others told his daughter, doctors returned him to
the prisoner ward, where he died a few hours later.

Under the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of
Prisoners, sick prisoners who require specialist treatment must be
transferred to specialized institutions or civil hospitals. The refusal
of a hospital to admit a sick prisoner does not relieve prison
authorities of their duty to provide the prisoner with adequate care,
such as transferring the prisoner to another hospital, Human Rights
Watch said.

Abu Bakr Ahmed Hanafi: Continued Detention Despite Terminal Illness
Abu Bakr Ahmed Hanafi, an accountant and Brotherhood leader in the Qena
governorate, died in Assiut Prison on November 13 after more than 10
months in detention. Police arrested him on January 1, 2014, at his
office in Qena governorate and charged him with involvement in a riot
that damaged Qena’s main train station in July 2013.

Prosecutors ordered him held, pending trial. In July, while at Qena
Prison, he began suffering stomach pain and vomiting, his wife told
Human Rights Watch. After several weeks, a prison doctor sent him to
Qena University Hospital for tests. A doctor there said his symptoms
were psychosomatic and ordered him returned to prison.

Prison authorities moved him to the prison hospital when he continued to
vomit and fed him intravenously because he could not eat, his wife
said. They then returned him to the university hospital, where doctors
diagnosed liver and pancreatic cancer, and estimated that he had only
three months to live, his brother, a prisoner in the same facility, told
Hanafi’s wife.

On September 7, prison authorities approved Hanafi’s transfer to Assiut
University Hospital for an MRI scan, but his transfer took 10 days. The
MRI confirmed the earlier tests, but doctors asked for a biopsy.
Meanwhile, Hanafi’s lawyer requested that Hanafi, likely suffering from a
terminal illness, be released for treatment.

At a September 20 court
session after trial began, the judge ordered further medical
examination. On October 26, rather than release Hanafi, he ordered him
transferred to a hospital.

Two days later, authorities sent him first to Qena University Hospital
and then to Assiut University Hospital, where the doctor kept him for 13
days in the prisoners’ ward, where he was under guard and almost always
handcuffed, his wife said. He underwent a biopsy, but because prison
officials confused his results with those of another prisoner, Hanafi
had to return for a second session. This delayed the release of the
biopsy results until the second week of November.

On November 12, doctors discharged Hanafi, prescribed medication, and
ordered him transferred to Qena University Hospital. But a prison
officer insisted on taking him first to Assiut Prison where, according
to Hanafi’s wife, the officer and the warden debated whether he should
still be held. Eventually, the warden ordered him held while awaiting
transfer to Qena.

On November 13, prison guards told Hanafi’s wife that she could not
visit him. The next day, they allowed Hanafi’s nephew to enter, and he
discovered that Hanafi had died. Hanafi’s brother, the prisoner, said
guards had found Hanafi dead in his cell and moved his body to an
ambulance. On his death certificate, they wrote that he had died in a
hospital.

Returning a critically ill prisoner like Hanafi to prison despite
doctors’ recommendations to send him to another hospital likely amounted
to inhuman and degrading treatment under international law.Abd al-Rahman al-Razahi: Failure to Allow Care in Prison
Abd al-Rahman al-Razahi, a 43-year-old school employee and Muslim
Brotherhood leader from Assiut governorate, died on or shortly before
October 13, 2013, in Tora Prison in Cairo.

Police arrested al-Razahi on August 17, 2013, three days after security
forces brutally dispersed pro-Morsy sit-ins in the capital and killed
more than 800 people, mostly Muslim Brotherhood supporters. Prosecutors
accused al-Razahi of spying for the Palestinian movement Hamas and of
escaping during the 2011 revolution from Wadi al-Natroun Prison – where
many Muslim Brotherhood leaders had been held during the January 2011
uprising.

The authorities initially held him in solitary confinement in a high
security section of Tora Prison. When his wife saw him more than a month
after his arrest, al-Razahi had lost weight and was ill and vomiting,
she said. She said that Khairat al-Shater, a top Brotherhood leader
detained with al-Razahi, had asked the prison authorities to let a
doctor see al-Razahi but that the warden had refused, and she added that
prison guards sometimes threw away medicines taken to al-Razahi by his
brother.

As al-Razahi’s health deteriorated, his wife said, an
ophthalmologist sharing his cell asked the authorities to transfer
al-Razahi to a hospital. The authorities refused and only allowed the
ophthalmologist to order blood tests for al-Razahi. The tests did not
reveal anything abnormal, she said.

His wife told Human Rights Watch that she believed prosecutors would
release al-Razahi because they had no evidence that he had ever been a
prisoner in Wadi al-Natroun but that National Security officers provided
testimony to prevent his release.

On October 12, 2013, the
investigating judge ordered al-Razahi released without bail for health
reasons, and an ambulance arrived to transport him back to his home in
Assiut. But the prosecutor appealed the release order, and the judge
ordered al-Razahi held for another 45 days pending investigation, his
wife said.

On October 13, al-Razahi’s brother arrived at the prison for a visit and
found the facility in chaos. Guards told him that a prisoner had died
and ordered him to leave. Al-Razahi’s brother called the family’s
lawyers, who discovered that al-Razahi had died and that authorities had
already transferred his body to Cairo’s Zeinhom Morgue.

Al-Razahi’s
brother said that morgue workers told him that National Security
officers had instructed them not to confirm that the body was there.
When al-Razahi’s brother was finally allowed to take the body, morgue
officials asked him what he wanted written as the cause of death. He
responded that it did not matter, and they wrote “acute circulatory
failure.”

Al-Razahi’s wife told Human Rights Watch that Tora Prison officials had
never conducted medical tests on her husband, but the prison doctor told
her that he suspected he suffered from a stomach ulcer.

Workers at a textile factory in the Egyptian town of Mahalla ended a four-day strike on Saturday after working out an agreement with management to be paid a previously promised profit share and discuss other issues.

Mohamed Assad, a leader of the 10,000-strong strike at the Holding Company for Cotton Spinning and Weaving, told Daily News Egypt that the strike and sit-in were called off after negotiations between workers' representatives and the employers on Saturday.

He emphasised that financial demands were not the primary focus and that their main concern was their call for a restructuring of the company’s leadership and the restoration of government subsidies, which been promised by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.

At a meeting in December between the Minister of Industry Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, cotton and textile industry leaders and chairman of the General Union of Textile Workers, the Prime Minister promised to make the textile industry a “national project” and continue subsidies in the face of heavy losses in the sector.

However, last week, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Adel El-Beltagy announced that the state would not be offering any form of subsidies for cotton farmers or spinners during the next season.

Striking workers saw this as betrayal.

“The lack of raw materials is one of the problems facing the company,” Assad added. “Although Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb promised the workers in previous meetings that the government will provide enough supply cotton, the promises were not met.”

The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike on Tuesday, which involved around 10,000 male and female workers, and saw many involved in an open-ended sit-in at the company's headquarters.

A union statement said the strike was called “to claim the rest of the (annual bonus) for two months of the financial year 2013/2014, to start swiftly the company's development plans as the government promised, and to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt (officials)."

Some involved with the strike, however, were critical of the decision to call it off and expressed concern about the actions of the union's leadership.

Kamal El-Fayoumi, one of the strike leaders, stated that there was "a conspiracy between the chair of the factory's board and the union" that eventually lead to the decision to go back to work.

"The strike started last Tuesday as the government didn’t implement any promises after the original visit of Prime Minister Mehlab to the factory," he told MEE.

"Mehlab came to the factory last year when there was a strike that lasted for 13 days and he promised to achieve workers' demands within three months, like providing cotton to help the factory work with full capacity, end corruption inside the factory and make sure bonuses were distributed by 31 December each year.

"Nothing happened from these promises," he said, adding that losses at the company were 432 million Egyptian pounds last year and 700 million Egyptian pounds this year.

RNN, a pro-Muslim Brotherhood news website, reported on Saturday that workers at Mahalla were threatened with dismissal, by police and factory security guards, if they did not end the strike.

Fayoumi corroborated the claim, saying the workers were now in "rage mode" as a result of suggestions they could now be arrested for having taken part, as well as at suggestions that the days lost to the strike would taken off the workers' annual holiday, something which had not happened in previous strikes.

"Over the last 18 months Sisi's government hindered the workers because some of them are ex-NPD policy committee [the party of former president Hosni Mubarak] and Muslim Brotherhood," he said.

"Those people don’t work according to the revolutions of Jan 25 and June 30, as they don’t want stability, so they create unemployment which can be bombs in front of the regime."

Wael Habib, a worker in the factory, also blamed a lack of support from the government.

"Workers are locked in a never-ending cycle of protests, negotiations and lost promises," he told MEE. "After each strike and promise, they broke their promise. The administration claims that workers don’t want to work. Yes, they are right, but this is a result of there being no cotton for work. When the PM came to the factory he said that he will provide our factory with cotton for 3 months. Our factory Consumes cotton with the cost of 1 Million EGP."

"The cotton the PM provided lasted only for one month and they said they can't provide us with more".

He also slammed the main Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) as corrupt and as having too cosy a relationship with the government.

"Sisi doesn’t know anything about labourers," he said. "He only meets Gebaly Maraghi, head of the federation. Can ETUF gather the 6 million workers in square? No they can't."

"They are not in touch with workers and doesn’t know about them".

The Marxist Revolutionary Socialists (RevSoc) on Saturday claimed workers had received threatening text messages on their mobile phones during their sit-in at the company. Habib cited one security officer blaming "foreign agendas" among the striking workers.

"The workers are not represented in the Egyptian society. They don’t get their rights," added Habib.

The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike in a statement on Tuesday.

"More than 10000 male and female workers in the Mahalla textile company began a strike this morning and an open-ended sit-in at the company's headquarters,” read the statement, “in order to claim the rest of the (annual profits) for two months of the financial year 2103/2014, to start swiftly the company's development plans as the government promised, to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt (officials)."

A HISTORY OF MILITANCY

The Mahalla textile complex has frequently been a focal point of trade union activity and worker militancy.

Strikes by workers in the complex, starting with a walkout in 2006, have been highlighted by many as the spark of the movement that eventually led to the 2011 revolution that overthrew aging autocrat Mubarak.

The Mahalla workers were also the prime movers behind the 2008 Egyptian general strike, also referred to as the “Egyptian Intifada”, which also gave birth to the 6 April Youth Movement.

“6 April 2008 wasn’t an uprising, it was the real revolution,” asserted Karim El-Beheiry, a labour activist and former Mahalla employee.

“People refer to the events of 2008 as a rehearsal, and say 25 January 2011 was the first wave of the revolution,” he told Al-Monitor “This isn’t true, 6 April was a genuine revolution against the regime and it wasn’t hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, as was 25 January - 25 January was the second wave of the revolution.”

"Mahalla is important for two main reasons,” said Anne Alexander, co-author of Bread, Freedom, Social Justice: Workers & the Egyptian Revolution.

“Firstly because of the sheer size of Ghazl al-Mahalla (Misr Spinning) as a workplace. If a large part of the 20,000 or so workers join a strike this can create a very powerful impression on journalists, politicians and other activists.

“A turning point in the growth of opposition to Mubarak was the success of the strike in Mahalla in December 2006. This strike encouraged workers across the textile sector to raise similar demands, helping to open a ‘second front’ in the struggle against the regime at a time when democratic activists were reeling from repression,” she told Middle East Eye.

“Success for the Mahalla workers is important for similar reasons, even though the context is different. Even though strikes like these are ostensibly just about bread and butter economic demands they do challenge the regime's attempts to criminalise all forms of protest and every expression of democratic rights."

Some observers argued that significant strikes in Mahalla, Cairo’s Public Transportation Authority and other key sectors contributed to the downfall of former Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawy’s cabinet - hurriedly announced at a 24 February press conference last year.

"It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country," Beblawy said during his resignation speech. ”Rather than asking what has Egypt given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt."

His successor, current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, then also tried to quell workers’ unrest with cautious appeals for calm.

"We’re betting on the patriotism of the Egyptian workers,” Mehleb said, shortly after taking office.

However, since then, occasional workers’ protests have been met with repression by the security forces.

In September, several workers at the Alexandria Textiles Company were shot with cartouche (birdshot) rounds by police, Mada Masr reported.

*Mahmoud El-Sobky contributed to reporting

Workers
at a textile factory in the Egyptian town of Mahalla ended a four-day
strike on Saturday after working out an agreement with management to be
paid a previously promised profit share and discuss other issues.
Mohamed Assad, a leader of the 10,000-strong strike at the Holding
Company for Cotton Spinning and Weaving, told Daily News Egypt that the
strike and sit-in were called off after negotiations between workers'
representatives and the employers on Saturday.
He emphasised that financial demands were not the primary focus and
that their main concern was their call for a restructuring of the
company’s leadership and the restoration of government subsidies, which
been promised by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
At a meeting in December between the Minister of Industry Mounir
Fakhry Abdel Nour, cotton and textile industry leaders and chairman of
the General Union of Textile Workers, the Prime Minister promised to
make the textile industry a “national project” and continue subsidies in
the face of heavy losses in the sector.
However, last week, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Adel
El-Beltagy announced that the state would not be offering any form of
subsidies for cotton farmers or spinners during the next season.
Striking workers saw this as betrayal.
“The lack of raw materials is one of the problems facing the company,” Assad added. “Although
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb promised the workers in previous meetings
that the government will provide enough supply cotton, the promises
were not met.”
The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike
on Tuesday, which involved around 10,000 male and female workers, and
saw many involved in an open-ended sit-in at the company's headquarters.
A union statement said the strike was called “to claim the rest of
the (annual bonus) for two months of the financial year 2013/2014, to
start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, and to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."

"Conspiracy"

Some involved with the strike, however, were critical of the decision
to call it off and expressed concern about the actions of the union's
leadership.
Kamal El-Fayoumi, one of the strike leaders, stated that there was "a
conspiracy between the chair of the factory's board and the union" that
eventually lead to the decision to go back to work.
"The strike started last Tuesday as the government didn’t implement
any promises after the original visit of Prime Minister Mehlab to the
factory," he told MEE.
"Mehlab came to the factory last year when there was a strike that
lasted for 13 days and he promised to achieve workers' demands within
three months, like providing cotton to help the factory work with full
capacity, end corruption inside the factory and make sure bonuses were
distributed by 31 December each year.
"Nothing happened from these promises," he said, adding that losses
at the company were 432 million Egyptian pounds last year and 700
million Egyptian pounds this year.
RNN, a pro-Muslim Brotherhood news website, reported on Saturday that
workers at Mahalla were threatened with dismissal, by police and
factory security guards, if they did not end the strike.
Fayoumi corroborated the claim, saying the workers were now in "rage
mode" as a result of suggestions they could now be arrested for having
taken part, as well as at suggestions that the days lost to the strike
would taken off the workers' annual holiday, something which had not
happened in previous strikes.
"Over the last 18 months Sisi's government hindered the workers
because some of them are ex-NPD policy committee [the party of former
president Hosni Mubarak] and Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
"Those people don’t work according to the revolutions of Jan 25 and
June 30, as they don’t want stability, so they create unemployment which
can be bombs in front of the regime."
Wael Habib, a worker in the factory, also blamed a lack of support from the government.
"Workers are locked in a never-ending cycle of protests, negotiations
and lost promises," he told MEE. "After each strike and promise, they
broke their promise. The administration claims that workers don’t want
to work. Yes, they are right, but this is a result of there being no
cotton for work. When the PM came to the factory he said that he will
provide our factory with cotton for 3 months. Our factory Consumes
cotton with the cost of 1 Million EGP."
"The cotton the PM provided lasted only for one month and they said they can't provide us with more".
He also slammed the main Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) as
corrupt and as having too cosy a relationship with the government.
"Sisi doesn’t know anything about labourers," he said. "He only meets
Gebaly Maraghi, head of the federation. Can ETUF gather the 6 million
workers in square? No they can't."
"They are not in touch with workers and doesn’t know about them".
The Marxist Revolutionary Socialists (RevSoc) on Saturday claimed
workers had received threatening text messages on their mobile phones
during their sit-in at the company. Habib cited one security officer
blaming "foreign agendas" among the striking workers.
"The workers are not represented in the Egyptian society. They don’t get their rights," added Habib.

The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike in a statement on Tuesday.
"More than 10000 male and female workers in the Mahalla textile
company began a strike this morning and an open-ended sit-in at the
company's headquarters,” read the statement, “in order to claim the rest
of the (annual profits) for two months of the financial year 2103/2014,
to start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/strike-mahalla-textile-factory-enters-...

A history of militancy

The Mahalla textile complex has frequently been a focal point of trade union activity and worker militancy.
Strikes by workers in the complex, starting with a walkout in 2006, have been highlighted by many as the spark of the movement that eventually led to the 2011 revolution that overthrew aging autocrat Mubarak.
The Mahalla workers were also the prime movers behind the 2008
Egyptian general strike, also referred to as the “Egyptian Intifada”,
which also gave birth to the 6 April Youth Movement.
“6 April 2008 wasn’t an uprising, it was the real revolution,”
asserted Karim El-Beheiry, a labour activist and former Mahalla
employee.
“People refer to the events of 2008 as a rehearsal, and say 25 January 2011 was the first wave of the revolution,” he told Al-Monitor
“This isn’t true, 6 April was a genuine revolution against the regime
and it wasn’t hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, as was 25 January - 25 January was the second wave of the revolution.”
"Mahalla is important for two main reasons,” said Anne Alexander, co-author of Bread, Freedom, Social Justice: Workers & the Egyptian Revolution.
“Firstly because of the sheer size of Ghazl al-Mahalla (Misr
Spinning) as a workplace. If a large part of the 20,000 or so workers
join a strike this can create a very powerful impression on journalists,
politicians and other activists.
“A turning point in the growth of opposition to Mubarak was the
success of the strike in Mahalla in December 2006. This strike
encouraged workers across the textile sector to raise similar demands,
helping to open a ‘second front’ in the struggle against the regime at a
time when democratic activists were reeling from repression,” she told
Middle East Eye.
“Success for the Mahalla workers is important for similar reasons,
even though the context is different. Even though strikes like these are
ostensibly just about bread and butter economic demands they do
challenge the regime's attempts to criminalise all forms of protest and
every expression of democratic rights."
Some observers argued that significant strikes in Mahalla, Cairo’s
Public Transportation Authority and other key sectors contributed to the
downfall of former Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawy’s cabinet -
hurriedly announced at a 24 February press conference last year.
"It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country," Beblawy
said during his resignation speech. ”Rather than asking what has Egypt
given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt."
His successor, current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, then also tried to quell workers’ unrest with cautious appeals for calm.
"We’re betting on the patriotism of the Egyptian workers,” Mehleb said, shortly after taking office.
However, since then, occasional workers’ protests have been met with repression by the security forces.
In September, several workers at the Alexandria Textiles Company were shot with cartouche (birdshot) rounds by police, Mada Masr reported.Mahmoud El-Sobky contributed to reporting

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.gEnI97Kq.dpuf

Workers
at a textile factory in the Egyptian town of Mahalla ended a four-day
strike on Saturday after working out an agreement with management to be
paid a previously promised profit share and discuss other issues.
Mohamed Assad, a leader of the 10,000-strong strike at the Holding
Company for Cotton Spinning and Weaving, told Daily News Egypt that the
strike and sit-in were called off after negotiations between workers'
representatives and the employers on Saturday.
He emphasised that financial demands were not the primary focus and
that their main concern was their call for a restructuring of the
company’s leadership and the restoration of government subsidies, which
been promised by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
At a meeting in December between the Minister of Industry Mounir
Fakhry Abdel Nour, cotton and textile industry leaders and chairman of
the General Union of Textile Workers, the Prime Minister promised to
make the textile industry a “national project” and continue subsidies in
the face of heavy losses in the sector.
However, last week, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Adel
El-Beltagy announced that the state would not be offering any form of
subsidies for cotton farmers or spinners during the next season.
Striking workers saw this as betrayal.
“The lack of raw materials is one of the problems facing the company,” Assad added. “Although
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb promised the workers in previous meetings
that the government will provide enough supply cotton, the promises
were not met.”
The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike
on Tuesday, which involved around 10,000 male and female workers, and
saw many involved in an open-ended sit-in at the company's headquarters.
A union statement said the strike was called “to claim the rest of
the (annual bonus) for two months of the financial year 2013/2014, to
start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, and to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."

"Conspiracy"

Some involved with the strike, however, were critical of the decision
to call it off and expressed concern about the actions of the union's
leadership.
Kamal El-Fayoumi, one of the strike leaders, stated that there was "a
conspiracy between the chair of the factory's board and the union" that
eventually lead to the decision to go back to work.
"The strike started last Tuesday as the government didn’t implement
any promises after the original visit of Prime Minister Mehlab to the
factory," he told MEE.
"Mehlab came to the factory last year when there was a strike that
lasted for 13 days and he promised to achieve workers' demands within
three months, like providing cotton to help the factory work with full
capacity, end corruption inside the factory and make sure bonuses were
distributed by 31 December each year.
"Nothing happened from these promises," he said, adding that losses
at the company were 432 million Egyptian pounds last year and 700
million Egyptian pounds this year.
RNN, a pro-Muslim Brotherhood news website, reported on Saturday that
workers at Mahalla were threatened with dismissal, by police and
factory security guards, if they did not end the strike.
Fayoumi corroborated the claim, saying the workers were now in "rage
mode" as a result of suggestions they could now be arrested for having
taken part, as well as at suggestions that the days lost to the strike
would taken off the workers' annual holiday, something which had not
happened in previous strikes.
"Over the last 18 months Sisi's government hindered the workers
because some of them are ex-NPD policy committee [the party of former
president Hosni Mubarak] and Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
"Those people don’t work according to the revolutions of Jan 25 and
June 30, as they don’t want stability, so they create unemployment which
can be bombs in front of the regime."
Wael Habib, a worker in the factory, also blamed a lack of support from the government.
"Workers are locked in a never-ending cycle of protests, negotiations
and lost promises," he told MEE. "After each strike and promise, they
broke their promise. The administration claims that workers don’t want
to work. Yes, they are right, but this is a result of there being no
cotton for work. When the PM came to the factory he said that he will
provide our factory with cotton for 3 months. Our factory Consumes
cotton with the cost of 1 Million EGP."
"The cotton the PM provided lasted only for one month and they said they can't provide us with more".
He also slammed the main Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) as
corrupt and as having too cosy a relationship with the government.
"Sisi doesn’t know anything about labourers," he said. "He only meets
Gebaly Maraghi, head of the federation. Can ETUF gather the 6 million
workers in square? No they can't."
"They are not in touch with workers and doesn’t know about them".
The Marxist Revolutionary Socialists (RevSoc) on Saturday claimed
workers had received threatening text messages on their mobile phones
during their sit-in at the company. Habib cited one security officer
blaming "foreign agendas" among the striking workers.
"The workers are not represented in the Egyptian society. They don’t get their rights," added Habib.

The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike in a statement on Tuesday.
"More than 10000 male and female workers in the Mahalla textile
company began a strike this morning and an open-ended sit-in at the
company's headquarters,” read the statement, “in order to claim the rest
of the (annual profits) for two months of the financial year 2103/2014,
to start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/strike-mahalla-textile-factory-enters-...

A history of militancy

The Mahalla textile complex has frequently been a focal point of trade union activity and worker militancy.
Strikes by workers in the complex, starting with a walkout in 2006, have been highlighted by many as the spark of the movement that eventually led to the 2011 revolution that overthrew aging autocrat Mubarak.
The Mahalla workers were also the prime movers behind the 2008
Egyptian general strike, also referred to as the “Egyptian Intifada”,
which also gave birth to the 6 April Youth Movement.
“6 April 2008 wasn’t an uprising, it was the real revolution,”
asserted Karim El-Beheiry, a labour activist and former Mahalla
employee.
“People refer to the events of 2008 as a rehearsal, and say 25 January 2011 was the first wave of the revolution,” he told Al-Monitor
“This isn’t true, 6 April was a genuine revolution against the regime
and it wasn’t hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, as was 25 January - 25 January was the second wave of the revolution.”
"Mahalla is important for two main reasons,” said Anne Alexander, co-author of Bread, Freedom, Social Justice: Workers & the Egyptian Revolution.
“Firstly because of the sheer size of Ghazl al-Mahalla (Misr
Spinning) as a workplace. If a large part of the 20,000 or so workers
join a strike this can create a very powerful impression on journalists,
politicians and other activists.
“A turning point in the growth of opposition to Mubarak was the
success of the strike in Mahalla in December 2006. This strike
encouraged workers across the textile sector to raise similar demands,
helping to open a ‘second front’ in the struggle against the regime at a
time when democratic activists were reeling from repression,” she told
Middle East Eye.
“Success for the Mahalla workers is important for similar reasons,
even though the context is different. Even though strikes like these are
ostensibly just about bread and butter economic demands they do
challenge the regime's attempts to criminalise all forms of protest and
every expression of democratic rights."
Some observers argued that significant strikes in Mahalla, Cairo’s
Public Transportation Authority and other key sectors contributed to the
downfall of former Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawy’s cabinet -
hurriedly announced at a 24 February press conference last year.
"It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country," Beblawy
said during his resignation speech. ”Rather than asking what has Egypt
given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt."
His successor, current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, then also tried to quell workers’ unrest with cautious appeals for calm.
"We’re betting on the patriotism of the Egyptian workers,” Mehleb said, shortly after taking office.
However, since then, occasional workers’ protests have been met with repression by the security forces.
In September, several workers at the Alexandria Textiles Company were shot with cartouche (birdshot) rounds by police, Mada Masr reported.Mahmoud El-Sobky contributed to reporting

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.gEnI97Kq.dpuf

Workers
at a textile factory in the Egyptian town of Mahalla ended a four-day
strike on Saturday after working out an agreement with management to be
paid a previously promised profit share and discuss other issues.
Mohamed Assad, a leader of the 10,000-strong strike at the Holding
Company for Cotton Spinning and Weaving, told Daily News Egypt that the
strike and sit-in were called off after negotiations between workers'
representatives and the employers on Saturday.
He emphasised that financial demands were not the primary focus and
that their main concern was their call for a restructuring of the
company’s leadership and the restoration of government subsidies, which
been promised by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
At a meeting in December between the Minister of Industry Mounir
Fakhry Abdel Nour, cotton and textile industry leaders and chairman of
the General Union of Textile Workers, the Prime Minister promised to
make the textile industry a “national project” and continue subsidies in
the face of heavy losses in the sector.
However, last week, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Adel
El-Beltagy announced that the state would not be offering any form of
subsidies for cotton farmers or spinners during the next season.
Striking workers saw this as betrayal.
“The lack of raw materials is one of the problems facing the company,” Assad added. “Although
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb promised the workers in previous meetings
that the government will provide enough supply cotton, the promises
were not met.”
The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike
on Tuesday, which involved around 10,000 male and female workers, and
saw many involved in an open-ended sit-in at the company's headquarters.
A union statement said the strike was called “to claim the rest of
the (annual bonus) for two months of the financial year 2013/2014, to
start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, and to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."

"Conspiracy"

Some involved with the strike, however, were critical of the decision
to call it off and expressed concern about the actions of the union's
leadership.
Kamal El-Fayoumi, one of the strike leaders, stated that there was "a
conspiracy between the chair of the factory's board and the union" that
eventually lead to the decision to go back to work.
"The strike started last Tuesday as the government didn’t implement
any promises after the original visit of Prime Minister Mehlab to the
factory," he told MEE.
"Mehlab came to the factory last year when there was a strike that
lasted for 13 days and he promised to achieve workers' demands within
three months, like providing cotton to help the factory work with full
capacity, end corruption inside the factory and make sure bonuses were
distributed by 31 December each year.
"Nothing happened from these promises," he said, adding that losses
at the company were 432 million Egyptian pounds last year and 700
million Egyptian pounds this year.
RNN, a pro-Muslim Brotherhood news website, reported on Saturday that
workers at Mahalla were threatened with dismissal, by police and
factory security guards, if they did not end the strike.
Fayoumi corroborated the claim, saying the workers were now in "rage
mode" as a result of suggestions they could now be arrested for having
taken part, as well as at suggestions that the days lost to the strike
would taken off the workers' annual holiday, something which had not
happened in previous strikes.
"Over the last 18 months Sisi's government hindered the workers
because some of them are ex-NPD policy committee [the party of former
president Hosni Mubarak] and Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
"Those people don’t work according to the revolutions of Jan 25 and
June 30, as they don’t want stability, so they create unemployment which
can be bombs in front of the regime."
Wael Habib, a worker in the factory, also blamed a lack of support from the government.
"Workers are locked in a never-ending cycle of protests, negotiations
and lost promises," he told MEE. "After each strike and promise, they
broke their promise. The administration claims that workers don’t want
to work. Yes, they are right, but this is a result of there being no
cotton for work. When the PM came to the factory he said that he will
provide our factory with cotton for 3 months. Our factory Consumes
cotton with the cost of 1 Million EGP."
"The cotton the PM provided lasted only for one month and they said they can't provide us with more".
He also slammed the main Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) as
corrupt and as having too cosy a relationship with the government.
"Sisi doesn’t know anything about labourers," he said. "He only meets
Gebaly Maraghi, head of the federation. Can ETUF gather the 6 million
workers in square? No they can't."
"They are not in touch with workers and doesn’t know about them".
The Marxist Revolutionary Socialists (RevSoc) on Saturday claimed
workers had received threatening text messages on their mobile phones
during their sit-in at the company. Habib cited one security officer
blaming "foreign agendas" among the striking workers.
"The workers are not represented in the Egyptian society. They don’t get their rights," added Habib.

The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike in a statement on Tuesday.
"More than 10000 male and female workers in the Mahalla textile
company began a strike this morning and an open-ended sit-in at the
company's headquarters,” read the statement, “in order to claim the rest
of the (annual profits) for two months of the financial year 2103/2014,
to start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/strike-mahalla-textile-factory-enters-...

A history of militancy

The Mahalla textile complex has frequently been a focal point of trade union activity and worker militancy.
Strikes by workers in the complex, starting with a walkout in 2006, have been highlighted by many as the spark of the movement that eventually led to the 2011 revolution that overthrew aging autocrat Mubarak.
The Mahalla workers were also the prime movers behind the 2008
Egyptian general strike, also referred to as the “Egyptian Intifada”,
which also gave birth to the 6 April Youth Movement.
“6 April 2008 wasn’t an uprising, it was the real revolution,”
asserted Karim El-Beheiry, a labour activist and former Mahalla
employee.
“People refer to the events of 2008 as a rehearsal, and say 25 January 2011 was the first wave of the revolution,” he told Al-Monitor
“This isn’t true, 6 April was a genuine revolution against the regime
and it wasn’t hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, as was 25 January - 25 January was the second wave of the revolution.”
"Mahalla is important for two main reasons,” said Anne Alexander, co-author of Bread, Freedom, Social Justice: Workers & the Egyptian Revolution.
“Firstly because of the sheer size of Ghazl al-Mahalla (Misr
Spinning) as a workplace. If a large part of the 20,000 or so workers
join a strike this can create a very powerful impression on journalists,
politicians and other activists.
“A turning point in the growth of opposition to Mubarak was the
success of the strike in Mahalla in December 2006. This strike
encouraged workers across the textile sector to raise similar demands,
helping to open a ‘second front’ in the struggle against the regime at a
time when democratic activists were reeling from repression,” she told
Middle East Eye.
“Success for the Mahalla workers is important for similar reasons,
even though the context is different. Even though strikes like these are
ostensibly just about bread and butter economic demands they do
challenge the regime's attempts to criminalise all forms of protest and
every expression of democratic rights."
Some observers argued that significant strikes in Mahalla, Cairo’s
Public Transportation Authority and other key sectors contributed to the
downfall of former Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawy’s cabinet -
hurriedly announced at a 24 February press conference last year.
"It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country," Beblawy
said during his resignation speech. ”Rather than asking what has Egypt
given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt."
His successor, current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, then also tried to quell workers’ unrest with cautious appeals for calm.
"We’re betting on the patriotism of the Egyptian workers,” Mehleb said, shortly after taking office.
However, since then, occasional workers’ protests have been met with repression by the security forces.
In September, several workers at the Alexandria Textiles Company were shot with cartouche (birdshot) rounds by police, Mada Masr reported.Mahmoud El-Sobky contributed to reporting

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.gEnI97Kq.dpuf

Workers
at a textile factory in the Egyptian town of Mahalla ended a four-day
strike on Saturday after working out an agreement with management to be
paid a previously promised profit share and discuss other issues.
Mohamed Assad, a leader of the 10,000-strong strike at the Holding
Company for Cotton Spinning and Weaving, told Daily News Egypt that the
strike and sit-in were called off after negotiations between workers'
representatives and the employers on Saturday.
He emphasised that financial demands were not the primary focus and
that their main concern was their call for a restructuring of the
company’s leadership and the restoration of government subsidies, which
been promised by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
At a meeting in December between the Minister of Industry Mounir
Fakhry Abdel Nour, cotton and textile industry leaders and chairman of
the General Union of Textile Workers, the Prime Minister promised to
make the textile industry a “national project” and continue subsidies in
the face of heavy losses in the sector.
However, last week, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Adel
El-Beltagy announced that the state would not be offering any form of
subsidies for cotton farmers or spinners during the next season.
Striking workers saw this as betrayal.
“The lack of raw materials is one of the problems facing the company,” Assad added. “Although
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb promised the workers in previous meetings
that the government will provide enough supply cotton, the promises
were not met.”
The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike
on Tuesday, which involved around 10,000 male and female workers, and
saw many involved in an open-ended sit-in at the company's headquarters.
A union statement said the strike was called “to claim the rest of
the (annual bonus) for two months of the financial year 2013/2014, to
start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, and to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."

"Conspiracy"

Some involved with the strike, however, were critical of the decision
to call it off and expressed concern about the actions of the union's
leadership.
Kamal El-Fayoumi, one of the strike leaders, stated that there was "a
conspiracy between the chair of the factory's board and the union" that
eventually lead to the decision to go back to work.
"The strike started last Tuesday as the government didn’t implement
any promises after the original visit of Prime Minister Mehlab to the
factory," he told MEE.
"Mehlab came to the factory last year when there was a strike that
lasted for 13 days and he promised to achieve workers' demands within
three months, like providing cotton to help the factory work with full
capacity, end corruption inside the factory and make sure bonuses were
distributed by 31 December each year.
"Nothing happened from these promises," he said, adding that losses
at the company were 432 million Egyptian pounds last year and 700
million Egyptian pounds this year.
RNN, a pro-Muslim Brotherhood news website, reported on Saturday that
workers at Mahalla were threatened with dismissal, by police and
factory security guards, if they did not end the strike.
Fayoumi corroborated the claim, saying the workers were now in "rage
mode" as a result of suggestions they could now be arrested for having
taken part, as well as at suggestions that the days lost to the strike
would taken off the workers' annual holiday, something which had not
happened in previous strikes.
"Over the last 18 months Sisi's government hindered the workers
because some of them are ex-NPD policy committee [the party of former
president Hosni Mubarak] and Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
"Those people don’t work according to the revolutions of Jan 25 and
June 30, as they don’t want stability, so they create unemployment which
can be bombs in front of the regime."
Wael Habib, a worker in the factory, also blamed a lack of support from the government.
"Workers are locked in a never-ending cycle of protests, negotiations
and lost promises," he told MEE. "After each strike and promise, they
broke their promise. The administration claims that workers don’t want
to work. Yes, they are right, but this is a result of there being no
cotton for work. When the PM came to the factory he said that he will
provide our factory with cotton for 3 months. Our factory Consumes
cotton with the cost of 1 Million EGP."
"The cotton the PM provided lasted only for one month and they said they can't provide us with more".
He also slammed the main Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) as
corrupt and as having too cosy a relationship with the government.
"Sisi doesn’t know anything about labourers," he said. "He only meets
Gebaly Maraghi, head of the federation. Can ETUF gather the 6 million
workers in square? No they can't."
"They are not in touch with workers and doesn’t know about them".
The Marxist Revolutionary Socialists (RevSoc) on Saturday claimed
workers had received threatening text messages on their mobile phones
during their sit-in at the company. Habib cited one security officer
blaming "foreign agendas" among the striking workers.
"The workers are not represented in the Egyptian society. They don’t get their rights," added Habib.

The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike in a statement on Tuesday.
"More than 10000 male and female workers in the Mahalla textile
company began a strike this morning and an open-ended sit-in at the
company's headquarters,” read the statement, “in order to claim the rest
of the (annual profits) for two months of the financial year 2103/2014,
to start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/strike-mahalla-textile-factory-enters-...

A history of militancy

The Mahalla textile complex has frequently been a focal point of trade union activity and worker militancy.
Strikes by workers in the complex, starting with a walkout in 2006, have been highlighted by many as the spark of the movement that eventually led to the 2011 revolution that overthrew aging autocrat Mubarak.
The Mahalla workers were also the prime movers behind the 2008
Egyptian general strike, also referred to as the “Egyptian Intifada”,
which also gave birth to the 6 April Youth Movement.
“6 April 2008 wasn’t an uprising, it was the real revolution,”
asserted Karim El-Beheiry, a labour activist and former Mahalla
employee.
“People refer to the events of 2008 as a rehearsal, and say 25 January 2011 was the first wave of the revolution,” he told Al-Monitor
“This isn’t true, 6 April was a genuine revolution against the regime
and it wasn’t hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, as was 25 January - 25 January was the second wave of the revolution.”
"Mahalla is important for two main reasons,” said Anne Alexander, co-author of Bread, Freedom, Social Justice: Workers & the Egyptian Revolution.
“Firstly because of the sheer size of Ghazl al-Mahalla (Misr
Spinning) as a workplace. If a large part of the 20,000 or so workers
join a strike this can create a very powerful impression on journalists,
politicians and other activists.
“A turning point in the growth of opposition to Mubarak was the
success of the strike in Mahalla in December 2006. This strike
encouraged workers across the textile sector to raise similar demands,
helping to open a ‘second front’ in the struggle against the regime at a
time when democratic activists were reeling from repression,” she told
Middle East Eye.
“Success for the Mahalla workers is important for similar reasons,
even though the context is different. Even though strikes like these are
ostensibly just about bread and butter economic demands they do
challenge the regime's attempts to criminalise all forms of protest and
every expression of democratic rights."
Some observers argued that significant strikes in Mahalla, Cairo’s
Public Transportation Authority and other key sectors contributed to the
downfall of former Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawy’s cabinet -
hurriedly announced at a 24 February press conference last year.
"It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country," Beblawy
said during his resignation speech. ”Rather than asking what has Egypt
given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt."
His successor, current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, then also tried to quell workers’ unrest with cautious appeals for calm.
"We’re betting on the patriotism of the Egyptian workers,” Mehleb said, shortly after taking office.
However, since then, occasional workers’ protests have been met with repression by the security forces.
In September, several workers at the Alexandria Textiles Company were shot with cartouche (birdshot) rounds by police, Mada Masr reported.Mahmoud El-Sobky contributed to reporting

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.qWQHUE67.dpuf

Workers
at a textile factory in the Egyptian town of Mahalla ended a four-day
strike on Saturday after working out an agreement with management to be
paid a previously promised profit share and discuss other issues.
Mohamed Assad, a leader of the 10,000-strong strike at the Holding
Company for Cotton Spinning and Weaving, told Daily News Egypt that the
strike and sit-in were called off after negotiations between workers'
representatives and the employers on Saturday.
He emphasised that financial demands were not the primary focus and
that their main concern was their call for a restructuring of the
company’s leadership and the restoration of government subsidies, which
been promised by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
At a meeting in December between the Minister of Industry Mounir
Fakhry Abdel Nour, cotton and textile industry leaders and chairman of
the General Union of Textile Workers, the Prime Minister promised to
make the textile industry a “national project” and continue subsidies in
the face of heavy losses in the sector.
However, last week, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Adel
El-Beltagy announced that the state would not be offering any form of
subsidies for cotton farmers or spinners during the next season.
Striking workers saw this as betrayal.
“The lack of raw materials is one of the problems facing the company,” Assad added. “Although
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb promised the workers in previous meetings
that the government will provide enough supply cotton, the promises
were not met.”
The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike
on Tuesday, which involved around 10,000 male and female workers, and
saw many involved in an open-ended sit-in at the company's headquarters.
A union statement said the strike was called “to claim the rest of
the (annual bonus) for two months of the financial year 2013/2014, to
start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, and to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."

"Conspiracy"

Some involved with the strike, however, were critical of the decision
to call it off and expressed concern about the actions of the union's
leadership.
Kamal El-Fayoumi, one of the strike leaders, stated that there was "a
conspiracy between the chair of the factory's board and the union" that
eventually lead to the decision to go back to work.
"The strike started last Tuesday as the government didn’t implement
any promises after the original visit of Prime Minister Mehlab to the
factory," he told MEE.
"Mehlab came to the factory last year when there was a strike that
lasted for 13 days and he promised to achieve workers' demands within
three months, like providing cotton to help the factory work with full
capacity, end corruption inside the factory and make sure bonuses were
distributed by 31 December each year.
"Nothing happened from these promises," he said, adding that losses
at the company were 432 million Egyptian pounds last year and 700
million Egyptian pounds this year.
RNN, a pro-Muslim Brotherhood news website, reported on Saturday that
workers at Mahalla were threatened with dismissal, by police and
factory security guards, if they did not end the strike.
Fayoumi corroborated the claim, saying the workers were now in "rage
mode" as a result of suggestions they could now be arrested for having
taken part, as well as at suggestions that the days lost to the strike
would taken off the workers' annual holiday, something which had not
happened in previous strikes.
"Over the last 18 months Sisi's government hindered the workers
because some of them are ex-NPD policy committee [the party of former
president Hosni Mubarak] and Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
"Those people don’t work according to the revolutions of Jan 25 and
June 30, as they don’t want stability, so they create unemployment which
can be bombs in front of the regime."
Wael Habib, a worker in the factory, also blamed a lack of support from the government.
"Workers are locked in a never-ending cycle of protests, negotiations
and lost promises," he told MEE. "After each strike and promise, they
broke their promise. The administration claims that workers don’t want
to work. Yes, they are right, but this is a result of there being no
cotton for work. When the PM came to the factory he said that he will
provide our factory with cotton for 3 months. Our factory Consumes
cotton with the cost of 1 Million EGP."
"The cotton the PM provided lasted only for one month and they said they can't provide us with more".
He also slammed the main Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) as
corrupt and as having too cosy a relationship with the government.
"Sisi doesn’t know anything about labourers," he said. "He only meets
Gebaly Maraghi, head of the federation. Can ETUF gather the 6 million
workers in square? No they can't."
"They are not in touch with workers and doesn’t know about them".
The Marxist Revolutionary Socialists (RevSoc) on Saturday claimed
workers had received threatening text messages on their mobile phones
during their sit-in at the company. Habib cited one security officer
blaming "foreign agendas" among the striking workers.
"The workers are not represented in the Egyptian society. They don’t get their rights," added Habib.

The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike in a statement on Tuesday.
"More than 10000 male and female workers in the Mahalla textile
company began a strike this morning and an open-ended sit-in at the
company's headquarters,” read the statement, “in order to claim the rest
of the (annual profits) for two months of the financial year 2103/2014,
to start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/strike-mahalla-textile-factory-enters-...

A history of militancy

The Mahalla textile complex has frequently been a focal point of trade union activity and worker militancy.
Strikes by workers in the complex, starting with a walkout in 2006, have been highlighted by many as the spark of the movement that eventually led to the 2011 revolution that overthrew aging autocrat Mubarak.
The Mahalla workers were also the prime movers behind the 2008
Egyptian general strike, also referred to as the “Egyptian Intifada”,
which also gave birth to the 6 April Youth Movement.
“6 April 2008 wasn’t an uprising, it was the real revolution,”
asserted Karim El-Beheiry, a labour activist and former Mahalla
employee.
“People refer to the events of 2008 as a rehearsal, and say 25 January 2011 was the first wave of the revolution,” he told Al-Monitor
“This isn’t true, 6 April was a genuine revolution against the regime
and it wasn’t hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, as was 25 January - 25 January was the second wave of the revolution.”
"Mahalla is important for two main reasons,” said Anne Alexander, co-author of Bread, Freedom, Social Justice: Workers & the Egyptian Revolution.
“Firstly because of the sheer size of Ghazl al-Mahalla (Misr
Spinning) as a workplace. If a large part of the 20,000 or so workers
join a strike this can create a very powerful impression on journalists,
politicians and other activists.
“A turning point in the growth of opposition to Mubarak was the
success of the strike in Mahalla in December 2006. This strike
encouraged workers across the textile sector to raise similar demands,
helping to open a ‘second front’ in the struggle against the regime at a
time when democratic activists were reeling from repression,” she told
Middle East Eye.
“Success for the Mahalla workers is important for similar reasons,
even though the context is different. Even though strikes like these are
ostensibly just about bread and butter economic demands they do
challenge the regime's attempts to criminalise all forms of protest and
every expression of democratic rights."
Some observers argued that significant strikes in Mahalla, Cairo’s
Public Transportation Authority and other key sectors contributed to the
downfall of former Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawy’s cabinet -
hurriedly announced at a 24 February press conference last year.
"It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country," Beblawy
said during his resignation speech. ”Rather than asking what has Egypt
given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt."
His successor, current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, then also tried to quell workers’ unrest with cautious appeals for calm.
"We’re betting on the patriotism of the Egyptian workers,” Mehleb said, shortly after taking office.
However, since then, occasional workers’ protests have been met with repression by the security forces.
In September, several workers at the Alexandria Textiles Company were shot with cartouche (birdshot) rounds by police, Mada Masr reported.Mahmoud El-Sobky contributed to reporting

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.qWQHUE67.dpuf

Workers
at a textile factory in the Egyptian town of Mahalla ended a four-day
strike on Saturday after working out an agreement with management to be
paid a previously promised profit share and discuss other issues.
Mohamed Assad, a leader of the 10,000-strong strike at the Holding
Company for Cotton Spinning and Weaving, told Daily News Egypt that the
strike and sit-in were called off after negotiations between workers'
representatives and the employers on Saturday.
He emphasised that financial demands were not the primary focus and
that their main concern was their call for a restructuring of the
company’s leadership and the restoration of government subsidies, which
been promised by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
At a meeting in December between the Minister of Industry Mounir
Fakhry Abdel Nour, cotton and textile industry leaders and chairman of
the General Union of Textile Workers, the Prime Minister promised to
make the textile industry a “national project” and continue subsidies in
the face of heavy losses in the sector.
However, last week, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Adel
El-Beltagy announced that the state would not be offering any form of
subsidies for cotton farmers or spinners during the next season.
Striking workers saw this as betrayal.
“The lack of raw materials is one of the problems facing the company,” Assad added. “Although
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb promised the workers in previous meetings
that the government will provide enough supply cotton, the promises
were not met.”
The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike
on Tuesday, which involved around 10,000 male and female workers, and
saw many involved in an open-ended sit-in at the company's headquarters.
A union statement said the strike was called “to claim the rest of
the (annual bonus) for two months of the financial year 2013/2014, to
start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, and to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."

"Conspiracy"

Some involved with the strike, however, were critical of the decision
to call it off and expressed concern about the actions of the union's
leadership.
Kamal El-Fayoumi, one of the strike leaders, stated that there was "a
conspiracy between the chair of the factory's board and the union" that
eventually lead to the decision to go back to work.
"The strike started last Tuesday as the government didn’t implement
any promises after the original visit of Prime Minister Mehlab to the
factory," he told MEE.
"Mehlab came to the factory last year when there was a strike that
lasted for 13 days and he promised to achieve workers' demands within
three months, like providing cotton to help the factory work with full
capacity, end corruption inside the factory and make sure bonuses were
distributed by 31 December each year.
"Nothing happened from these promises," he said, adding that losses
at the company were 432 million Egyptian pounds last year and 700
million Egyptian pounds this year.
RNN, a pro-Muslim Brotherhood news website, reported on Saturday that
workers at Mahalla were threatened with dismissal, by police and
factory security guards, if they did not end the strike.
Fayoumi corroborated the claim, saying the workers were now in "rage
mode" as a result of suggestions they could now be arrested for having
taken part, as well as at suggestions that the days lost to the strike
would taken off the workers' annual holiday, something which had not
happened in previous strikes.
"Over the last 18 months Sisi's government hindered the workers
because some of them are ex-NPD policy committee [the party of former
president Hosni Mubarak] and Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
"Those people don’t work according to the revolutions of Jan 25 and
June 30, as they don’t want stability, so they create unemployment which
can be bombs in front of the regime."
Wael Habib, a worker in the factory, also blamed a lack of support from the government.
"Workers are locked in a never-ending cycle of protests, negotiations
and lost promises," he told MEE. "After each strike and promise, they
broke their promise. The administration claims that workers don’t want
to work. Yes, they are right, but this is a result of there being no
cotton for work. When the PM came to the factory he said that he will
provide our factory with cotton for 3 months. Our factory Consumes
cotton with the cost of 1 Million EGP."
"The cotton the PM provided lasted only for one month and they said they can't provide us with more".
He also slammed the main Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) as
corrupt and as having too cosy a relationship with the government.
"Sisi doesn’t know anything about labourers," he said. "He only meets
Gebaly Maraghi, head of the federation. Can ETUF gather the 6 million
workers in square? No they can't."
"They are not in touch with workers and doesn’t know about them".
The Marxist Revolutionary Socialists (RevSoc) on Saturday claimed
workers had received threatening text messages on their mobile phones
during their sit-in at the company. Habib cited one security officer
blaming "foreign agendas" among the striking workers.
"The workers are not represented in the Egyptian society. They don’t get their rights," added Habib.

The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike in a statement on Tuesday.
"More than 10000 male and female workers in the Mahalla textile
company began a strike this morning and an open-ended sit-in at the
company's headquarters,” read the statement, “in order to claim the rest
of the (annual profits) for two months of the financial year 2103/2014,
to start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/strike-mahalla-textile-factory-enters-...

A history of militancy

The Mahalla textile complex has frequently been a focal point of trade union activity and worker militancy.
Strikes by workers in the complex, starting with a walkout in 2006, have been highlighted by many as the spark of the movement that eventually led to the 2011 revolution that overthrew aging autocrat Mubarak.
The Mahalla workers were also the prime movers behind the 2008
Egyptian general strike, also referred to as the “Egyptian Intifada”,
which also gave birth to the 6 April Youth Movement.
“6 April 2008 wasn’t an uprising, it was the real revolution,”
asserted Karim El-Beheiry, a labour activist and former Mahalla
employee.
“People refer to the events of 2008 as a rehearsal, and say 25 January 2011 was the first wave of the revolution,” he told Al-Monitor
“This isn’t true, 6 April was a genuine revolution against the regime
and it wasn’t hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, as was 25 January - 25 January was the second wave of the revolution.”
"Mahalla is important for two main reasons,” said Anne Alexander, co-author of Bread, Freedom, Social Justice: Workers & the Egyptian Revolution.
“Firstly because of the sheer size of Ghazl al-Mahalla (Misr
Spinning) as a workplace. If a large part of the 20,000 or so workers
join a strike this can create a very powerful impression on journalists,
politicians and other activists.
“A turning point in the growth of opposition to Mubarak was the
success of the strike in Mahalla in December 2006. This strike
encouraged workers across the textile sector to raise similar demands,
helping to open a ‘second front’ in the struggle against the regime at a
time when democratic activists were reeling from repression,” she told
Middle East Eye.
“Success for the Mahalla workers is important for similar reasons,
even though the context is different. Even though strikes like these are
ostensibly just about bread and butter economic demands they do
challenge the regime's attempts to criminalise all forms of protest and
every expression of democratic rights."
Some observers argued that significant strikes in Mahalla, Cairo’s
Public Transportation Authority and other key sectors contributed to the
downfall of former Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawy’s cabinet -
hurriedly announced at a 24 February press conference last year.
"It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country," Beblawy
said during his resignation speech. ”Rather than asking what has Egypt
given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt."
His successor, current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, then also tried to quell workers’ unrest with cautious appeals for calm.
"We’re betting on the patriotism of the Egyptian workers,” Mehleb said, shortly after taking office.
However, since then, occasional workers’ protests have been met with repression by the security forces.
In September, several workers at the Alexandria Textiles Company were shot with cartouche (birdshot) rounds by police, Mada Masr reported.Mahmoud El-Sobky contributed to reporting

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.gEnI97Kq.dpuf

Workers
at a textile factory in the Egyptian town of Mahalla ended a four-day
strike on Saturday after working out an agreement with management to be
paid a previously promised profit share and discuss other issues.
Mohamed Assad, a leader of the 10,000-strong strike at the Holding
Company for Cotton Spinning and Weaving, told Daily News Egypt that the
strike and sit-in were called off after negotiations between workers'
representatives and the employers on Saturday.
He emphasised that financial demands were not the primary focus and
that their main concern was their call for a restructuring of the
company’s leadership and the restoration of government subsidies, which
been promised by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
At a meeting in December between the Minister of Industry Mounir
Fakhry Abdel Nour, cotton and textile industry leaders and chairman of
the General Union of Textile Workers, the Prime Minister promised to
make the textile industry a “national project” and continue subsidies in
the face of heavy losses in the sector.
However, last week, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Adel
El-Beltagy announced that the state would not be offering any form of
subsidies for cotton farmers or spinners during the next season.
Striking workers saw this as betrayal.
“The lack of raw materials is one of the problems facing the company,” Assad added. “Although
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb promised the workers in previous meetings
that the government will provide enough supply cotton, the promises
were not met.”
The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike
on Tuesday, which involved around 10,000 male and female workers, and
saw many involved in an open-ended sit-in at the company's headquarters.
A union statement said the strike was called “to claim the rest of
the (annual bonus) for two months of the financial year 2013/2014, to
start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, and to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."

"Conspiracy"

Some involved with the strike, however, were critical of the decision
to call it off and expressed concern about the actions of the union's
leadership.
Kamal El-Fayoumi, one of the strike leaders, stated that there was "a
conspiracy between the chair of the factory's board and the union" that
eventually lead to the decision to go back to work.
"The strike started last Tuesday as the government didn’t implement
any promises after the original visit of Prime Minister Mehlab to the
factory," he told MEE.
"Mehlab came to the factory last year when there was a strike that
lasted for 13 days and he promised to achieve workers' demands within
three months, like providing cotton to help the factory work with full
capacity, end corruption inside the factory and make sure bonuses were
distributed by 31 December each year.
"Nothing happened from these promises," he said, adding that losses
at the company were 432 million Egyptian pounds last year and 700
million Egyptian pounds this year.
RNN, a pro-Muslim Brotherhood news website, reported on Saturday that
workers at Mahalla were threatened with dismissal, by police and
factory security guards, if they did not end the strike.
Fayoumi corroborated the claim, saying the workers were now in "rage
mode" as a result of suggestions they could now be arrested for having
taken part, as well as at suggestions that the days lost to the strike
would taken off the workers' annual holiday, something which had not
happened in previous strikes.
"Over the last 18 months Sisi's government hindered the workers
because some of them are ex-NPD policy committee [the party of former
president Hosni Mubarak] and Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
"Those people don’t work according to the revolutions of Jan 25 and
June 30, as they don’t want stability, so they create unemployment which
can be bombs in front of the regime."
Wael Habib, a worker in the factory, also blamed a lack of support from the government.
"Workers are locked in a never-ending cycle of protests, negotiations
and lost promises," he told MEE. "After each strike and promise, they
broke their promise. The administration claims that workers don’t want
to work. Yes, they are right, but this is a result of there being no
cotton for work. When the PM came to the factory he said that he will
provide our factory with cotton for 3 months. Our factory Consumes
cotton with the cost of 1 Million EGP."
"The cotton the PM provided lasted only for one month and they said they can't provide us with more".
He also slammed the main Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) as
corrupt and as having too cosy a relationship with the government.
"Sisi doesn’t know anything about labourers," he said. "He only meets
Gebaly Maraghi, head of the federation. Can ETUF gather the 6 million
workers in square? No they can't."
"They are not in touch with workers and doesn’t know about them".
The Marxist Revolutionary Socialists (RevSoc) on Saturday claimed
workers had received threatening text messages on their mobile phones
during their sit-in at the company. Habib cited one security officer
blaming "foreign agendas" among the striking workers.
"The workers are not represented in the Egyptian society. They don’t get their rights," added Habib.

The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike in a statement on Tuesday.
"More than 10000 male and female workers in the Mahalla textile
company began a strike this morning and an open-ended sit-in at the
company's headquarters,” read the statement, “in order to claim the rest
of the (annual profits) for two months of the financial year 2103/2014,
to start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/strike-mahalla-textile-factory-enters-...

A history of militancy

The Mahalla textile complex has frequently been a focal point of trade union activity and worker militancy.
Strikes by workers in the complex, starting with a walkout in 2006, have been highlighted by many as the spark of the movement that eventually led to the 2011 revolution that overthrew aging autocrat Mubarak.
The Mahalla workers were also the prime movers behind the 2008
Egyptian general strike, also referred to as the “Egyptian Intifada”,
which also gave birth to the 6 April Youth Movement.
“6 April 2008 wasn’t an uprising, it was the real revolution,”
asserted Karim El-Beheiry, a labour activist and former Mahalla
employee.
“People refer to the events of 2008 as a rehearsal, and say 25 January 2011 was the first wave of the revolution,” he told Al-Monitor
“This isn’t true, 6 April was a genuine revolution against the regime
and it wasn’t hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, as was 25 January - 25 January was the second wave of the revolution.”
"Mahalla is important for two main reasons,” said Anne Alexander, co-author of Bread, Freedom, Social Justice: Workers & the Egyptian Revolution.
“Firstly because of the sheer size of Ghazl al-Mahalla (Misr
Spinning) as a workplace. If a large part of the 20,000 or so workers
join a strike this can create a very powerful impression on journalists,
politicians and other activists.
“A turning point in the growth of opposition to Mubarak was the
success of the strike in Mahalla in December 2006. This strike
encouraged workers across the textile sector to raise similar demands,
helping to open a ‘second front’ in the struggle against the regime at a
time when democratic activists were reeling from repression,” she told
Middle East Eye.
“Success for the Mahalla workers is important for similar reasons,
even though the context is different. Even though strikes like these are
ostensibly just about bread and butter economic demands they do
challenge the regime's attempts to criminalise all forms of protest and
every expression of democratic rights."
Some observers argued that significant strikes in Mahalla, Cairo’s
Public Transportation Authority and other key sectors contributed to the
downfall of former Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawy’s cabinet -
hurriedly announced at a 24 February press conference last year.
"It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country," Beblawy
said during his resignation speech. ”Rather than asking what has Egypt
given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt."
His successor, current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, then also tried to quell workers’ unrest with cautious appeals for calm.
"We’re betting on the patriotism of the Egyptian workers,” Mehleb said, shortly after taking office.
However, since then, occasional workers’ protests have been met with repression by the security forces.
In September, several workers at the Alexandria Textiles Company were shot with cartouche (birdshot) rounds by police, Mada Masr reported.Mahmoud El-Sobky contributed to reporting

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.qWQHUE67.dpuf

Some
strike leaders claim the deal does not commit government to fulfilling
promises on cotton supplies and tackling corruption - See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.qWQHUE67.dpuf

Some
strike leaders claim the deal does not commit government to fulfilling
promises on cotton supplies and tackling corruption - See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.qWQHUE67.dpu

Workers
at a textile factory in the Egyptian town of Mahalla ended a four-day
strike on Saturday after working out an agreement with management to be
paid a previously promised profit share and discuss other issues.
Mohamed Assad, a leader of the 10,000-strong strike at the Holding
Company for Cotton Spinning and Weaving, told Daily News Egypt that the
strike and sit-in were called off after negotiations between workers'
representatives and the employers on Saturday.
He emphasised that financial demands were not the primary focus and
that their main concern was their call for a restructuring of the
company’s leadership and the restoration of government subsidies, which
been promised by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
At a meeting in December between the Minister of Industry Mounir
Fakhry Abdel Nour, cotton and textile industry leaders and chairman of
the General Union of Textile Workers, the Prime Minister promised to
make the textile industry a “national project” and continue subsidies in
the face of heavy losses in the sector.
However, last week, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Adel
El-Beltagy announced that the state would not be offering any form of
subsidies for cotton farmers or spinners during the next season.
Striking workers saw this as betrayal.
“The lack of raw materials is one of the problems facing the company,” Assad added. “Although
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb promised the workers in previous meetings
that the government will provide enough supply cotton, the promises
were not met.”
The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike
on Tuesday, which involved around 10,000 male and female workers, and
saw many involved in an open-ended sit-in at the company's headquarters.
A union statement said the strike was called “to claim the rest of
the (annual bonus) for two months of the financial year 2013/2014, to
start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, and to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."

"Conspiracy"

Some involved with the strike, however, were critical of the decision
to call it off and expressed concern about the actions of the union's
leadership.
Kamal El-Fayoumi, one of the strike leaders, stated that there was "a
conspiracy between the chair of the factory's board and the union" that
eventually lead to the decision to go back to work.
"The strike started last Tuesday as the government didn’t implement
any promises after the original visit of Prime Minister Mehlab to the
factory," he told MEE.
"Mehlab came to the factory last year when there was a strike that
lasted for 13 days and he promised to achieve workers' demands within
three months, like providing cotton to help the factory work with full
capacity, end corruption inside the factory and make sure bonuses were
distributed by 31 December each year.
"Nothing happened from these promises," he said, adding that losses
at the company were 432 million Egyptian pounds last year and 700
million Egyptian pounds this year.
RNN, a pro-Muslim Brotherhood news website, reported on Saturday that
workers at Mahalla were threatened with dismissal, by police and
factory security guards, if they did not end the strike.
Fayoumi corroborated the claim, saying the workers were now in "rage
mode" as a result of suggestions they could now be arrested for having
taken part, as well as at suggestions that the days lost to the strike
would taken off the workers' annual holiday, something which had not
happened in previous strikes.
"Over the last 18 months Sisi's government hindered the workers
because some of them are ex-NPD policy committee [the party of former
president Hosni Mubarak] and Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
"Those people don’t work according to the revolutions of Jan 25 and
June 30, as they don’t want stability, so they create unemployment which
can be bombs in front of the regime."
Wael Habib, a worker in the factory, also blamed a lack of support from the government.
"Workers are locked in a never-ending cycle of protests, negotiations
and lost promises," he told MEE. "After each strike and promise, they
broke their promise. The administration claims that workers don’t want
to work. Yes, they are right, but this is a result of there being no
cotton for work. When the PM came to the factory he said that he will
provide our factory with cotton for 3 months. Our factory Consumes
cotton with the cost of 1 Million EGP."
"The cotton the PM provided lasted only for one month and they said they can't provide us with more".
He also slammed the main Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) as
corrupt and as having too cosy a relationship with the government.
"Sisi doesn’t know anything about labourers," he said. "He only meets
Gebaly Maraghi, head of the federation. Can ETUF gather the 6 million
workers in square? No they can't."
"They are not in touch with workers and doesn’t know about them".
The Marxist Revolutionary Socialists (RevSoc) on Saturday claimed
workers had received threatening text messages on their mobile phones
during their sit-in at the company. Habib cited one security officer
blaming "foreign agendas" among the striking workers.
"The workers are not represented in the Egyptian society. They don’t get their rights," added Habib.

The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike in a statement on Tuesday.
"More than 10000 male and female workers in the Mahalla textile
company began a strike this morning and an open-ended sit-in at the
company's headquarters,” read the statement, “in order to claim the rest
of the (annual profits) for two months of the financial year 2103/2014,
to start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/strike-mahalla-textile-factory-enters-...

A history of militancy

The Mahalla textile complex has frequently been a focal point of trade union activity and worker militancy.
Strikes by workers in the complex, starting with a walkout in 2006, have been highlighted by many as the spark of the movement that eventually led to the 2011 revolution that overthrew aging autocrat Mubarak.
The Mahalla workers were also the prime movers behind the 2008
Egyptian general strike, also referred to as the “Egyptian Intifada”,
which also gave birth to the 6 April Youth Movement.
“6 April 2008 wasn’t an uprising, it was the real revolution,”
asserted Karim El-Beheiry, a labour activist and former Mahalla
employee.
“People refer to the events of 2008 as a rehearsal, and say 25 January 2011 was the first wave of the revolution,” he told Al-Monitor
“This isn’t true, 6 April was a genuine revolution against the regime
and it wasn’t hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, as was 25 January - 25 January was the second wave of the revolution.”
"Mahalla is important for two main reasons,” said Anne Alexander, co-author of Bread, Freedom, Social Justice: Workers & the Egyptian Revolution.
“Firstly because of the sheer size of Ghazl al-Mahalla (Misr
Spinning) as a workplace. If a large part of the 20,000 or so workers
join a strike this can create a very powerful impression on journalists,
politicians and other activists.
“A turning point in the growth of opposition to Mubarak was the
success of the strike in Mahalla in December 2006. This strike
encouraged workers across the textile sector to raise similar demands,
helping to open a ‘second front’ in the struggle against the regime at a
time when democratic activists were reeling from repression,” she told
Middle East Eye.
“Success for the Mahalla workers is important for similar reasons,
even though the context is different. Even though strikes like these are
ostensibly just about bread and butter economic demands they do
challenge the regime's attempts to criminalise all forms of protest and
every expression of democratic rights."
Some observers argued that significant strikes in Mahalla, Cairo’s
Public Transportation Authority and other key sectors contributed to the
downfall of former Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawy’s cabinet -
hurriedly announced at a 24 February press conference last year.
"It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country," Beblawy
said during his resignation speech. ”Rather than asking what has Egypt
given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt."
His successor, current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, then also tried to quell workers’ unrest with cautious appeals for calm.
"We’re betting on the patriotism of the Egyptian workers,” Mehleb said, shortly after taking office.
However, since then, occasional workers’ protests have been met with repression by the security forces.
In September, several workers at the Alexandria Textiles Company were shot with cartouche (birdshot) rounds by police, Mada Masr reported.Mahmoud El-Sobky contributed to reporting

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.qWQHUE67.dpuf

Workers
at a textile factory in the Egyptian town of Mahalla ended a four-day
strike on Saturday after working out an agreement with management to be
paid a previously promised profit share and discuss other issues.
Mohamed Assad, a leader of the 10,000-strong strike at the Holding
Company for Cotton Spinning and Weaving, told Daily News Egypt that the
strike and sit-in were called off after negotiations between workers'
representatives and the employers on Saturday.
He emphasised that financial demands were not the primary focus and
that their main concern was their call for a restructuring of the
company’s leadership and the restoration of government subsidies, which
been promised by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
At a meeting in December between the Minister of Industry Mounir
Fakhry Abdel Nour, cotton and textile industry leaders and chairman of
the General Union of Textile Workers, the Prime Minister promised to
make the textile industry a “national project” and continue subsidies in
the face of heavy losses in the sector.
However, last week, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Adel
El-Beltagy announced that the state would not be offering any form of
subsidies for cotton farmers or spinners during the next season.
Striking workers saw this as betrayal.
“The lack of raw materials is one of the problems facing the company,” Assad added. “Although
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb promised the workers in previous meetings
that the government will provide enough supply cotton, the promises
were not met.”
The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike
on Tuesday, which involved around 10,000 male and female workers, and
saw many involved in an open-ended sit-in at the company's headquarters.
A union statement said the strike was called “to claim the rest of
the (annual bonus) for two months of the financial year 2013/2014, to
start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, and to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."

"Conspiracy"

Some involved with the strike, however, were critical of the decision
to call it off and expressed concern about the actions of the union's
leadership.
Kamal El-Fayoumi, one of the strike leaders, stated that there was "a
conspiracy between the chair of the factory's board and the union" that
eventually lead to the decision to go back to work.
"The strike started last Tuesday as the government didn’t implement
any promises after the original visit of Prime Minister Mehlab to the
factory," he told MEE.
"Mehlab came to the factory last year when there was a strike that
lasted for 13 days and he promised to achieve workers' demands within
three months, like providing cotton to help the factory work with full
capacity, end corruption inside the factory and make sure bonuses were
distributed by 31 December each year.
"Nothing happened from these promises," he said, adding that losses
at the company were 432 million Egyptian pounds last year and 700
million Egyptian pounds this year.
RNN, a pro-Muslim Brotherhood news website, reported on Saturday that
workers at Mahalla were threatened with dismissal, by police and
factory security guards, if they did not end the strike.
Fayoumi corroborated the claim, saying the workers were now in "rage
mode" as a result of suggestions they could now be arrested for having
taken part, as well as at suggestions that the days lost to the strike
would taken off the workers' annual holiday, something which had not
happened in previous strikes.
"Over the last 18 months Sisi's government hindered the workers
because some of them are ex-NPD policy committee [the party of former
president Hosni Mubarak] and Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
"Those people don’t work according to the revolutions of Jan 25 and
June 30, as they don’t want stability, so they create unemployment which
can be bombs in front of the regime."
Wael Habib, a worker in the factory, also blamed a lack of support from the government.
"Workers are locked in a never-ending cycle of protests, negotiations
and lost promises," he told MEE. "After each strike and promise, they
broke their promise. The administration claims that workers don’t want
to work. Yes, they are right, but this is a result of there being no
cotton for work. When the PM came to the factory he said that he will
provide our factory with cotton for 3 months. Our factory Consumes
cotton with the cost of 1 Million EGP."
"The cotton the PM provided lasted only for one month and they said they can't provide us with more".
He also slammed the main Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) as
corrupt and as having too cosy a relationship with the government.
"Sisi doesn’t know anything about labourers," he said. "He only meets
Gebaly Maraghi, head of the federation. Can ETUF gather the 6 million
workers in square? No they can't."
"They are not in touch with workers and doesn’t know about them".
The Marxist Revolutionary Socialists (RevSoc) on Saturday claimed
workers had received threatening text messages on their mobile phones
during their sit-in at the company. Habib cited one security officer
blaming "foreign agendas" among the striking workers.
"The workers are not represented in the Egyptian society. They don’t get their rights," added Habib.

The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike in a statement on Tuesday.
"More than 10000 male and female workers in the Mahalla textile
company began a strike this morning and an open-ended sit-in at the
company's headquarters,” read the statement, “in order to claim the rest
of the (annual profits) for two months of the financial year 2103/2014,
to start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/strike-mahalla-textile-factory-enters-...

A history of militancy

The Mahalla textile complex has frequently been a focal point of trade union activity and worker militancy.
Strikes by workers in the complex, starting with a walkout in 2006, have been highlighted by many as the spark of the movement that eventually led to the 2011 revolution that overthrew aging autocrat Mubarak.
The Mahalla workers were also the prime movers behind the 2008
Egyptian general strike, also referred to as the “Egyptian Intifada”,
which also gave birth to the 6 April Youth Movement.
“6 April 2008 wasn’t an uprising, it was the real revolution,”
asserted Karim El-Beheiry, a labour activist and former Mahalla
employee.
“People refer to the events of 2008 as a rehearsal, and say 25 January 2011 was the first wave of the revolution,” he told Al-Monitor
“This isn’t true, 6 April was a genuine revolution against the regime
and it wasn’t hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, as was 25 January - 25 January was the second wave of the revolution.”
"Mahalla is important for two main reasons,” said Anne Alexander, co-author of Bread, Freedom, Social Justice: Workers & the Egyptian Revolution.
“Firstly because of the sheer size of Ghazl al-Mahalla (Misr
Spinning) as a workplace. If a large part of the 20,000 or so workers
join a strike this can create a very powerful impression on journalists,
politicians and other activists.
“A turning point in the growth of opposition to Mubarak was the
success of the strike in Mahalla in December 2006. This strike
encouraged workers across the textile sector to raise similar demands,
helping to open a ‘second front’ in the struggle against the regime at a
time when democratic activists were reeling from repression,” she told
Middle East Eye.
“Success for the Mahalla workers is important for similar reasons,
even though the context is different. Even though strikes like these are
ostensibly just about bread and butter economic demands they do
challenge the regime's attempts to criminalise all forms of protest and
every expression of democratic rights."
Some observers argued that significant strikes in Mahalla, Cairo’s
Public Transportation Authority and other key sectors contributed to the
downfall of former Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawy’s cabinet -
hurriedly announced at a 24 February press conference last year.
"It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country," Beblawy
said during his resignation speech. ”Rather than asking what has Egypt
given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt."
His successor, current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, then also tried to quell workers’ unrest with cautious appeals for calm.
"We’re betting on the patriotism of the Egyptian workers,” Mehleb said, shortly after taking office.
However, since then, occasional workers’ protests have been met with repression by the security forces.
In September, several workers at the Alexandria Textiles Company were shot with cartouche (birdshot) rounds by police, Mada Masr reported.Mahmoud El-Sobky contributed to reporting

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.qWQHUE67.dpuf

Workers
at a textile factory in the Egyptian town of Mahalla ended a four-day
strike on Saturday after working out an agreement with management to be
paid a previously promised profit share and discuss other issues.
Mohamed Assad, a leader of the 10,000-strong strike at the Holding
Company for Cotton Spinning and Weaving, told Daily News Egypt that the
strike and sit-in were called off after negotiations between workers'
representatives and the employers on Saturday.
He emphasised that financial demands were not the primary focus and
that their main concern was their call for a restructuring of the
company’s leadership and the restoration of government subsidies, which
been promised by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
At a meeting in December between the Minister of Industry Mounir
Fakhry Abdel Nour, cotton and textile industry leaders and chairman of
the General Union of Textile Workers, the Prime Minister promised to
make the textile industry a “national project” and continue subsidies in
the face of heavy losses in the sector.
However, last week, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Adel
El-Beltagy announced that the state would not be offering any form of
subsidies for cotton farmers or spinners during the next season.
Striking workers saw this as betrayal.
“The lack of raw materials is one of the problems facing the company,” Assad added. “Although
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb promised the workers in previous meetings
that the government will provide enough supply cotton, the promises
were not met.”
The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike
on Tuesday, which involved around 10,000 male and female workers, and
saw many involved in an open-ended sit-in at the company's headquarters.
A union statement said the strike was called “to claim the rest of
the (annual bonus) for two months of the financial year 2013/2014, to
start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, and to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."

"Conspiracy"

Some involved with the strike, however, were critical of the decision
to call it off and expressed concern about the actions of the union's
leadership.
Kamal El-Fayoumi, one of the strike leaders, stated that there was "a
conspiracy between the chair of the factory's board and the union" that
eventually lead to the decision to go back to work.
"The strike started last Tuesday as the government didn’t implement
any promises after the original visit of Prime Minister Mehlab to the
factory," he told MEE.
"Mehlab came to the factory last year when there was a strike that
lasted for 13 days and he promised to achieve workers' demands within
three months, like providing cotton to help the factory work with full
capacity, end corruption inside the factory and make sure bonuses were
distributed by 31 December each year.
"Nothing happened from these promises," he said, adding that losses
at the company were 432 million Egyptian pounds last year and 700
million Egyptian pounds this year.
RNN, a pro-Muslim Brotherhood news website, reported on Saturday that
workers at Mahalla were threatened with dismissal, by police and
factory security guards, if they did not end the strike.
Fayoumi corroborated the claim, saying the workers were now in "rage
mode" as a result of suggestions they could now be arrested for having
taken part, as well as at suggestions that the days lost to the strike
would taken off the workers' annual holiday, something which had not
happened in previous strikes.
"Over the last 18 months Sisi's government hindered the workers
because some of them are ex-NPD policy committee [the party of former
president Hosni Mubarak] and Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
"Those people don’t work according to the revolutions of Jan 25 and
June 30, as they don’t want stability, so they create unemployment which
can be bombs in front of the regime."
Wael Habib, a worker in the factory, also blamed a lack of support from the government.
"Workers are locked in a never-ending cycle of protests, negotiations
and lost promises," he told MEE. "After each strike and promise, they
broke their promise. The administration claims that workers don’t want
to work. Yes, they are right, but this is a result of there being no
cotton for work. When the PM came to the factory he said that he will
provide our factory with cotton for 3 months. Our factory Consumes
cotton with the cost of 1 Million EGP."
"The cotton the PM provided lasted only for one month and they said they can't provide us with more".
He also slammed the main Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) as
corrupt and as having too cosy a relationship with the government.
"Sisi doesn’t know anything about labourers," he said. "He only meets
Gebaly Maraghi, head of the federation. Can ETUF gather the 6 million
workers in square? No they can't."
"They are not in touch with workers and doesn’t know about them".
The Marxist Revolutionary Socialists (RevSoc) on Saturday claimed
workers had received threatening text messages on their mobile phones
during their sit-in at the company. Habib cited one security officer
blaming "foreign agendas" among the striking workers.
"The workers are not represented in the Egyptian society. They don’t get their rights," added Habib.

The Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services announced the strike in a statement on Tuesday.
"More than 10000 male and female workers in the Mahalla textile
company began a strike this morning and an open-ended sit-in at the
company's headquarters,” read the statement, “in order to claim the rest
of the (annual profits) for two months of the financial year 2103/2014,
to start swiftly the company's development plans as the government
promised, to investigate corruption claims and prosecute corrupt
(officials)."
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/strike-mahalla-textile-factory-enters-...

A history of militancy

The Mahalla textile complex has frequently been a focal point of trade union activity and worker militancy.
Strikes by workers in the complex, starting with a walkout in 2006, have been highlighted by many as the spark of the movement that eventually led to the 2011 revolution that overthrew aging autocrat Mubarak.
The Mahalla workers were also the prime movers behind the 2008
Egyptian general strike, also referred to as the “Egyptian Intifada”,
which also gave birth to the 6 April Youth Movement.
“6 April 2008 wasn’t an uprising, it was the real revolution,”
asserted Karim El-Beheiry, a labour activist and former Mahalla
employee.
“People refer to the events of 2008 as a rehearsal, and say 25 January 2011 was the first wave of the revolution,” he told Al-Monitor
“This isn’t true, 6 April was a genuine revolution against the regime
and it wasn’t hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, as was 25 January - 25 January was the second wave of the revolution.”
"Mahalla is important for two main reasons,” said Anne Alexander, co-author of Bread, Freedom, Social Justice: Workers & the Egyptian Revolution.
“Firstly because of the sheer size of Ghazl al-Mahalla (Misr
Spinning) as a workplace. If a large part of the 20,000 or so workers
join a strike this can create a very powerful impression on journalists,
politicians and other activists.
“A turning point in the growth of opposition to Mubarak was the
success of the strike in Mahalla in December 2006. This strike
encouraged workers across the textile sector to raise similar demands,
helping to open a ‘second front’ in the struggle against the regime at a
time when democratic activists were reeling from repression,” she told
Middle East Eye.
“Success for the Mahalla workers is important for similar reasons,
even though the context is different. Even though strikes like these are
ostensibly just about bread and butter economic demands they do
challenge the regime's attempts to criminalise all forms of protest and
every expression of democratic rights."
Some observers argued that significant strikes in Mahalla, Cairo’s
Public Transportation Authority and other key sectors contributed to the
downfall of former Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawy’s cabinet -
hurriedly announced at a 24 February press conference last year.
"It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country," Beblawy
said during his resignation speech. ”Rather than asking what has Egypt
given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt."
His successor, current Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, then also tried to quell workers’ unrest with cautious appeals for calm.
"We’re betting on the patriotism of the Egyptian workers,” Mehleb said, shortly after taking office.
However, since then, occasional workers’ protests have been met with repression by the security forces.
In September, several workers at the Alexandria Textiles Company were shot with cartouche (birdshot) rounds by police, Mada Masr reported.Mahmoud El-Sobky contributed to reporting

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.qWQHUE67.dpuf

Some
strike leaders claim the deal does not commit government to fulfilling
promises on cotton supplies and tackling corruption - See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.qWQHUE67.dpuf

Some strike leaders claim the deal does not commit government to fulfilling promises on cotton supplies and tackling corruption

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.qWQHUE67.dpuf

Some strike leaders claim the deal does not commit government to fulfilling promises on cotton supplies and tackling corruption

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.qWQHUE67.dpuf

Some strike leaders claim the deal does not commit government to fulfilling promises on cotton supplies and tackling corruption

- See more at:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypts-mahalla-textile-factory-workers-end-four-day-strike-after-management-agreement-260129749#sthash.qWQHUE67.dpuf